The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning
by KSuzie
Summary: Life was just about perfect for the Alternate Kimberly, that is, until her family decided to move to France. Worse, she has to give her power coin to Katherine Hillard. It was only for a year, but in that short eternity anything could happen…
1. Chapter 1: Back to School

Power Rangers: The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning

Chapter 1: Back to School

_Disclaimer: The Power Rangers belong to Disney. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks for the loan of such a fabulous character. Everything else is from my imagination._

_**The story takes place in an alternate universe which diverges from accepted canon and follows the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie doxology of Phaedosian power coins and innate animal spirit totems**__. __Bravo pour les différences d'opinion!_

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Life was just about perfect for the Alternate, that is, until her mother decided to get married again and move the family to France. Now the young Kim who had survived the death of her family and the destruction of her home world by the demon Kemora was being separated by an entire ocean from the only person in the entire universe she loved with all her heart. Worse, Zordon insisted she hand over her Ninjetti power coin to Katherine Hillard. It was only for a year, but she was well aware that in that short eternity anything could happen…

* * *

Kim was, perhaps, the most content she had ever been in her entire life. She didn't feel like the Alternate Ranger anymore. As Billy once pointed out, she had assimilated flawlessly.

Memories of her home world, of life before K had brought her to this world as a secret replacement for a dead Kimberly and a patch for an out of control timeline, only rarely floated through her vaguest dreams. She belonged now, this was her world, her team, and the knowledge that she had come from an alternate universe had faded into the recesses of her mind like the answers to a long forgotten history exam; surprising her when she remembered it.

She sighed deeply as she snuggled closer into Tommy's embrace, reveling in the warmth of the contact. It had happened again; that weird, almost psychic connection that only glimmered between them for the briefest of seconds, then disappeared, leaving an incredibly warm and content sensation glowing between them. Neither of them could define it. It wasn't as if they could actually hear one another's thoughts, it was more like a blending of their morphin energy, something that allowed them to just briefly merge with the other before fading and separating them again.

She adored those moments, but also knew Tommy was less than thrilled when they happened. If she had to actually describe it, it was like walking around naked; something to revel in if you're in a warm room all by yourselves, but disconcerting if you're worried a window's open and someone can see you.

The problem was, Tommy had secrets; ones he kept closely guarded and in check at all times, never admitting them to her or anyone else. Deep down, he was still very much defined by his inauguration into the world of Rangering as Rita's evil green. He felt hugely guilty and ashamed that he could never quite manage to fully overcome this darker side of himself and kept it under tight control in case it might accidentally slip and reveal itself again, like it had when he'd killed his teammate. It didn't matter that the resident Kimberly had been possessed by the demon Kemora and Zordon and everyone else assured him there was nothing else he could have done; he'd killed his world's original Kimberly and he'd live with that guilt his entire life.

He buried it deep inside, refused to look at it, to admit to it, but it was still there. It was a battle lust, the pure joy he took in a truly physical battle where sweat and blood and adrenaline twinged the atmosphere with just a hint of licentious fear and pain. Like an exotic temptation, it called to him with wicked, joyous anticipation each time he headed into battle; he loved it as much as he feared it.

She knew of it, of course. Just over a year before, the demon Kemora had taken her body hostage and ravaged the Ranger teams not only on her home world, but many, many others. She had been powerless to stop it, watching the carnage as one watches a nightmare that they can't wake from. She knew the lust, had experienced it via surrogacy, and still occasionally felt it in herself when the fighting was at its most intense.

It didn't bother her. She understood it in a way that he had yet to. It was part of him, part of what gave him an edge in battle that the other Rangers didn't have. He could understand and anticipate it in his opponent; counter it with equal intensity before it gave the enemy the upper hand.

It didn't in any way define him, at least outside of a battle, but he was still too afraid of that darker side to realize it. K had assured her that he would eventually come to grips with it like she had, so she waited patiently and simply loved both sides of him for what he was.

At some level, she was sure he sensed her acceptance, but that was still not quite enough for him to entirely expose himself in the light of that glorious coupling where it was just the two of them, their spirits dancing in perfect harmony. He didn't like it.

She sighed again as his strong arms tightened around her. They were stealing time. Her mother was out to dinner on yet another date with her famous artist boyfriend, Andre, and her little brother was locked in his room ogling over another set of pilfered nudie magazines from their dad's house. They very rarely took blatant advantage of an empty bedroom and no parental supervision, but it was the last day of a perfect summer and by the morning school would once again dominate their lives and restrict their freedoms; besides, the lake had been too crowded for the kind of fooling around they had in mind.

One thing had led to another and, before they'd known it, they were under the covers of her small double bed locked in a type of exuberate passion play that only teenage hormones and the general sense of forbidden naughtiness could inspire; not that either of them minded. Before they had known it, time had slipped by and both had fallen into an exhausted stupor; content to simply lay in each other's arms.

"Well isn't that the cutest thing I've ever seen." Her own voice echoed sarcastically through her mind. Kim stifled the urge groan and willed herself to stay completely still. Tommy had begun to snore softly and she knew any sudden movement on her part would jar him instantly awake.

The ghost of the resident Kimberly had become an almost constant fixture in her life since taking over the other girl's identity the previous year. She usually didn't mind, it came in handy sometimes, but other times, like when she was lying naked next to her boyfriend, it was an complete annoyance. She smashed her eyes tightly together and willed the specter to hear a telepathic "go away" although she knew the image of the other girl would ignore her.

The ghost only laughed at her and she swallowed a growl of frustration that ignored her internal command to be silent. Tommy shifted and she stilled herself once again, eyes open and searching his face to see if he was waking up. Tommy couldn't hear the soft echoes of his former teammate's voice, but he'd seen her shimmering image on more than one occasion and it never sat well with him. For her part, the ghost was adamant that she didn't blame Tommy anymore for her death and completely understood that the loss of her life had saved their entire team and the world at large, but he wouldn't hear any of it. He was still convinced she was hanging around and haunting them out of some sort of revenge.

Although he and the former pink Ranger hadn't been romantically involved, in fact she'd flatly turned him down when she'd been alive, he still blamed himself for being unable to save her. No amount of reasoning or cajoling on Kim's part could convince him that the only way to save the other Kimberly from the demon Kemora's possession was to kill her. Her bloody death at his hands had nearly destroyed him.

The ghost, for her part, found it humorous that her replacement was so enamored with the Ranger's fearless leader. When she had been alive, she hadn't found him all that fascinating, in fact considered him rather goofy, and had made it known more than once that she felt the other Kimberly could do better for herself.

"I just thought you might like to know that mom's home." The ghost added drolly, then disappeared in a shower of transparent, sparkly dust. Kim sat bolt upright, scattering the dust, and then literally jumped off the bed, scaring her boyfriend more thoroughly than any sudden monster attack could have.

"Mom's home." She announced in near panic, forgoing her underwear and shoving her legs almost simultaneously through a pair of pink capris, then snatching her shirt from the floor and yanking it over her head.

No one had to tell Tommy twice. He flew off the bed, sparing a precious second to glance at the clock, thinking at the same time both that her mother was hours early and wondering how the hell he'd allowed himself to go to sleep, then joined her in a frenzy of simultaneously dressing and straightening the covers of her bed to make it look as if the two hadn't been doing what they both knew they'd been doing.

It wasn't as if they always took such blatant advantage. In fact, they tried really, really, hard to be good. The problem was though, they could only manage to be good for a few days before they couldn't be so good anymore.

They tried to rationalize that Rita had legally married them in the Intergalactic Community, so they considered themselves entitled to a little more than the rules of dating at their age, but it was a rather lame argument and they both knew it. It had been a joke; a wedding prank. Rita had thought she was bonding her former green to the one female in the galaxy that would drive him insane. Unfortunately for her, or fortunately for him, the team's original pink Ranger had already been replaced by the Alternate; a girl more precious to him than life itself. It chaffed him a bit that he'd always be a little indebted to the old witch for bonding him to Kimberly, but not so much.

But just because the two Rangers were considered legally married and all grown up in the eyes of the Intergalactic Community didn't mean they had those same rights and privileges at home. On their home world, they were just kids with schoolwork to complete and parents to obey; it was really frustrating for them when they stopped to think about it.

The room somewhat pulled back into semblance of innocence, both of them bolted out of her bedroom and jumped for the family room couch, flipping the TV on to an old re-run of "The Love Boat" just as a parental key slid through the lock and the deadbolt flipped into the open position.

"Hey mom." Kim chimed innocently as her mother and Andre walked in. "You're home early."

"André and I noticed there's a carnival going on down on the boardwalk." Molly answered, sharp eyes taking in the disheveled appearance between her out of breath daughter and the long haired puppy she was obsessed with. "We thought we'd come pick you and Michael up for one last hurrah before school starts tomorrow."

"Oh…that sounds…uhm…"

"Awesome!" Her little brother chimed in. "Is there a roller coaster?"

"I believe there are enough lights crammed into the tiny waterfront by the Youth Center to accommodate many favorite rides." Andre answered good humouredly in his heavy French accent.

"But Tommy and I were just…."

"Saying goodnight?" Her mother suggested, deciding that she had spent too much time outside the home indulging her own romantic interests. Her daughter's hair looked like she'd been tumbling around in a windstorm and the boyfriend didn't look much better.

Kim blanched and gave Tommy a hesitant look, but he only nodded in agreement with her mother. It had been too close a call and while he wasn't happy about ending the last night of summer vacation early, he wasn't about to get on her mother's bad side again.

"Sure…I'll, uhm, see you at school tomorrow." He answered, standing nodding like a guilty as sin idiot between his girlfriend and his mother, then cautiously edged around the sudden invasion of parental authority and towards the blissful escape of the front door.

Kim made a frustrated and disgruntled sound, but didn't argue. She's spent all morning and all afternoon with Tommy, returning to her house and saying goodbye only long enough for her mother to go out and give at least give the appearance that she was willing to babysit a twelve year old sibling who didn't want to be babied. Tommy wasn't supposed to have come back, but Michael had sequestered himself in his room and she'd been bored and a little resentful she'd had to call their date to a halt early. Now though, she wouldn't argue. She rose without protest and followed him out of the room.

"You're shirt's on inside-out." Molly advised in her best parental tone as her daughter's boyfriend passed her.

"Oh…uh…" Tommy stammered, not exactly sure what to say. "Wow…thanks…I uh…guess it's been like that all day."

His hesitant eyes met those of his girlfriend's mother and he swallowed nervously. He wasn't sure what it was about Molly Williams, she'd dropped the last name of Hart after her divorce, but he was outright terrified by her sometimes. It was stupid if you really thought about it. He'd been Rita's evil green Ranger, he'd seen all kinds of horrors as the white Ranger, faced off against Goldar and Zedd and even Ivan Ooze, but Kim's five foot five tiny little art dealer of a mother could send shivers down his spine and make his legs tremble.

"Right, well…uh…have fun at the carnival." He continued in a rush as he backed out of the family room, then stopped cold, realizing he was barefoot and his shoes were still in his girlfriend's bedroom in the opposite direction.

"What is it?" Kim asked, unaware of the situation that was about to get them both busted.

"Oh man…my shoes." He murmured quietly. "I dunno what I did with my shoes."

"They're by the front door." Michael chimed in helpfully, giving his sister's boyfriend a look that clearly said Tommy totally owed him and payment would be due very soon. He liked Tommy, which is why he'd helped them out when he'd seen them scramble in panic out of his sister's bedroom, but that didn't mean he was above a little blackmail.

"Oh right…" Tommy stammered, "The door…they're by the front door. I'll just go…I'll get them on the way out…by the door…"

"Good night Tommy." Molly said sternly, arms crossed unsympathetically across her chest.

Tommy stopped again and grinned at her sheepishly, then turned and bolted for the freedom of a warm southern California evening.

----

"I can't believe I don't have one class with any of you." Aisha complained, looking once again at her class schedule which had been amended at the last minute for about the third time. Junior year was supposed to be one of the best, yet she was almost completely on her own with a class schedule that would ensure she didn't see any of the Rangers until after the final bell.

"I suppose I could claim offense at being referred to as 'no-one'" Billy chimed in.

"You're student teaching my chem lab." Aisha fired back. "That doesn't count."

"My college curriculum dictates that I spend so many hours in a mentoring position." He defended, but she only rolled her eyes at him. "It's also been determined that I still need a great deal of emersion into my peer groups in hopes of developing better social interactions." He added.

"That's not gonna happen with you teaching Billy." She answered in a scolding voice.

"Mentoring, not teaching." He amended. "Your academic performance, especially in regard to the evaluation of adequate absorption of the curriculum is still the sole discretion of the accredited faculty."

"You know what? That doesn't help." She returned, then shooed him away as he turned one way down the long maze of hallways and she and Adam turned the other.

"It's gonna be weird with Billy not being a student here anymore." Adam added as they stopped briefly at his locker to collect a notebook and then turned down another hallway where they had pre-arranged to meet Kim and Tommy at their lockers.

"Well that's what you get when you do summer school, _voluntarily_, every summer, every year of your life." She replied in an aggrieved tone. "You graduate early and leave all your friends behind you."

Adam gave her a look that silently agreed with her, but stifled a come-back that it was still going to strange not to have their pack together all day long. Angel Grove High was huge, with thousands of students, and it was inevitable that the five Rangers would have to separate at one point or another, but it was still odd.

Kim was finally joining them after a year of home schooling to bring her back up to speed on their world's curriculum, but Tommy was in all advanced classes, hoping to graduate early like Billy had so that he could concentrate full time on the Rangers.

Rocky was in two of Adam's six classes, but so was his new girlfriend Carri, which meant he'd be ignored and was pretty much as good as not having a friend there at all. Aisha and he had study hall together, but he was in the process of trying to get that switched with a free morning period so he could get extra baseball practice in; providing he made the team.

They slowed as their friends came into view and Kim greeted them cheerily. She was thrilled to be back in school, even if she knew that enthusiasm wouldn't last half way to winter break. She had a biology lab and lunch period with Tommy and three classes with her friend Carri, so she was fairly happy with her schedule. Besides, anything beat sitting at home with a tutor who watched your every move and reported on you to your mom and teams of doctors trying to "cure" you.

"If your schedule's that bad," She replied as Aisha once again bemoaned that she was on her own, "Then why don't you go to the guidance councilor and get it changed?"

"Because if I'm gonna get into a good college and then into a good vet school, I need to take certain courses senior year and all these classes are the prerequisites to those classes." He friend responded.

Kim gave her a genuinely sympathetic look, then closed her locker door to reveal Rocky and her friend Carri enthusiastically making out between what had been a private space between two open locker doors. The site immediately reset the mood from one of frustration to amusement.

Carri and Rocky had hooked up the previous Valentines' Day, but their relationship hadn't really started rolling in earnest until school had let out for the summer; partly because Carri's parents had pulled her out early to vacation in Cannes.

Rocky had tried to be good, to take things slowly. Carri Hillard was special to him, she was like no other girl he'd ever known. He was painfully aware of the discrepancies between her life as the spoiled daughter of a film and TV producer and his tenuous position as head of his household of six siblings after his dad had left. He wanted the budding relationship between them to last, to take things slowly and bond, but Carri wasn't about to sit still for delays. Unlike her sweet and mild tempered cousin, Carri's was a personality knew what she wanted, when she wanted it, and Kim hadn't been one bit surprised when their association took a physical turn over the Fourth of July holiday.

Rocky had thought it was a complete accident, a spur of the moment indulgence that consummated their relationship, but Kim suspected there was nothing accidental at all about it. Carri had decided before she left for Cannes with her parents that she was going to lose her virginity to the red Ranger before the summer's end and she'd been far too smug that the deed had been accomplished less than a week after her return from Europe.

She actually felt a bit guilty about that, worrying that her own decision to carry on a physical relationship with Tommy had influenced her friend, but she tried to tell herself that Carri never did anything without thinking it through… well… mostly; kinda. Still, she and Tommy had a bit of a different situation. Even though it wasn't legal on their home-world, they still considered themselves married. It worried her that Carri was making her decisions without that caveat, but again, there was very little she could do….and they seemed happy.

Kim turned and gave her boyfriend and amused yet knowing look and he grinned back at her. Both of them were just as bad as their friends, but they were far less inclined to public displays. They'd constantly be seen walking hand in hand, maybe sneaking a chaste kiss with the mood hit them, but public groping simply hadn't appealed to either of them. They'd sneak off, find someplace quiet, then simply enjoy one another.

"Get a room you two." Aisha snipped, but it was obvious she was as amused as the rest of her friends.

A few seconds later, realizing that the tenuous cover of locker doors had left them and they now had an audience, the two teens broke apart, giving the others sheepish looks, but completely unapologetic.

"Be good Babe." Carri piped up, patting her boyfriend's cheek. She turned on her heel and marched past the group, giving her friend a look that meant the pink Ranger should follow her.

"See you at lunch." Kim said with a bemused look, reaching up to kiss her boyfriend's cheek as she slipped past him, adding, "I love you." Then hurried down the hall to her friend. A soon as she reached the other girl, however, the two burst into a chorus of giggles, which proved to the watching Rangers that Carri wasn't nearly as ambivalent about being the center of a groping scene as she tried to make them think she was.

Rocky let out a huge sigh and leaned heavily against the wall of lockers. "How am I ever gonna survive the next three hours without her?" He asked dreamily.

"The way we all do." Tommy advised, "Every time you think of kissing her during class, just imagine Mr. Kaplan standing over you and threatening detention."

Rocky shot him a disgruntled look, but turned amiably to walk with them down the hall. He really had nothing to complain about this year. He had the classes and teachers he liked, a girlfriend to go to stuff with, and he'd been pretty much assured of a place on the baseball team again; life was pretty good.

As the warning bell rang, the group split wordlessly and quickly divided down different hallways in search of their home room classes. Adam stopped briefly, watching everyone go their different ways and was struck by a cold chill he hadn't felt before. Everything had suddenly changed this year. They were all unexpectedly going in different directions. It felt weird and he suddenly very much felt the odd man out. The bell rang again and all thoughts but finding his classroom flew from his head.

* * *

Tommy had to hand it to Zedd, ten minutes before the final bell their communicator's chirped followed almost immediately by the general alarm to take cover. Somehow, in the chaos of panicked students pushing and shoving toward the basement shelter, all five Rangers managed to find one another and transport en masse to Angel Grove Park.

At first Rat-a tat, seemed like your average tap dancing sewer rat hit by Zedd's staff at Rita's suggestion, but he was far smarter than they'd anticipated. He was fast, pretty good at anticipating them, and just plain mean. The sixty foot version wasn't much better and by the time the zords came together and put him out of his misery, the afternoon was nearly over and they all still had homework to do.

"This so isn't fair." Kim complained, head propped up by her hand as she leaned heavily across the table she shared with Tommy in the Youth Center. "First day of school and at least three hours of homework."

"Let's get it done, then we won't have to worry about it." Tommy offered sympathetically. Silently, he commiserated with her. You'd think the teachers would ease into the school year, but the homework loaded onto them on the first day seemed to suggest they wanted to get as much done as possible before the monster alarms closed school for too many days.

"It's already almost dinnertime." She moaned, tossing her pencil down and flopping her head against her open History book. "I'm barely gonna get done before I have to go. Mom and Andre are taking us out to eat tonight before Andre flies back to Paris tomorrow morning."

"Here, maybe this will help get you motivated." He offered, pulling out a white spiral notebook from his backpack. "I have news." He added, with a twinkle of excitement in his eyes. Immediately, she sat up, eyes brightening with anticipation.

The white notebook was their secret. They had started it early in the summer when they both realized that they loved each other and wanted to stay married past the minimum time required by Intergalactic law. Their marriage had been under duress, but Zordon hadn't been able to annul it and both had been informed they'd need to adhere to the bonding rules for the duration of the contract. However, they now no longer wanted to dissolve that union and if they were going to stay married in the galactic community, that meant they'd also need to formalize things on their own world when they were old enough. They hadn't told anyone, not even Zordon, but had started the notebook to make sure they were organized and ready for the resistance they knew they'd face from their parents once they graduated high school.

Inside, both had written down all their plans for the future. They had discussed what they wanted to study in collage, what collage would accommodate both their intended majors, what their budget was for school and books and housing, and what both of them would have to earn to support them as their own family.

The reality was that they weren't going to have very much money at all and things were going to be very tight, but Tommy had always been good at planning things out and Kim already had years of experience living on her own as an orphan on her home world. She was able to think of contingencies he, who had lived with his parents all his life, had never considered, and he was able to come up with a plan that seemed to make it doable. They saved every penny they could, carefully putting it all away in a savings account no one else knew about.

"Alright." Tommy began as he flipped through page after page of notes and figures. "As of this morning, we have just over fourteen hundred in the account, which is pretty good when you consider that we've only really been adding to it for a few months….and we had decided that Angel University has both an Art and a History program, but USC is the better school."

"Yes, but what about the cost of living in LA versus Angel Grove?" She asked, leaning closer and looking at the book to see if he'd added any new figures.

"Well, here's the thing." He added hesitantly and she looked up at him. "You know my uncle's into Nascar right?"

Kim frowned and looked up at him. Cars really weren't her thing, but she knew he enjoyed working on them with his uncle and that his uncle had helped him to fix up his jeep inside a garage at some sort of racetrack.

"Well, he let me drive one of his cars…not the good one, the older one that he used to use a few years ago."

"Alright…" She said, when he paused. He looked like a kid about to ask for permission to do something he knew he wasn't going to be allowed to do.

"It's just that…I dunno, I guess all that zord flying paid off." He said quietly, leaning a little closer to her and lowering his voice. "I was just having fun, I mean, nothing serious, I was just playing."

Kim crinkled her forehead, trying to figure out what he was trying to say and wondering what it had to do with their notebook.

"My uncle and one of his sponsors was watching." He continued. "The sponsor says my uncle should train me to be a real driver. I mean I'm too young now." He continued in a rush, "But in a couple of years, they both think I could be really good."

"So you're not interested in being an archeologist anymore?" Kim asked slowly. That changed everything, but she wasn't sure by how much. She assumed that meant he didn't think he wanted to go to college anymore and if he didn't go to college, did that mean she'd have to wait too?

"No, no, I still want to study it, but here's the thing." He paused and thought about how best to explain it to her. His uncle had only approached him and his mother about it the night before and he was incredibly excited. "My uncle's starting his pit crew off at forty-thousand dollars a year with full health insurance and everything, the good drivers can earn sometimes six figures or more. I mean, the top drivers get ten sometimes thirty percent of their winnings." He explained excitedly. "I mean, I'm not an experienced mechanic or driver or anything, but my uncle's the owner, he's got like three or four cars, even though he doesn't run them all at once. Anyway, he told my mom he'd start me out and teach me everything I need to know."

Kim's eyes widened, but she wasn't sure what to say. Forty thousand dollars a year seemed like an enormous amount. They had been trying to budget getting through college on a little more than half of that.

"This changes everything Beautiful." He rushed on. "We'll have more than enough for an apartment, eventually a house, we'll have health insurance, be able to start a savings plan, pay for school, it'll make everything so much easier for us right from the start."

"But is it what you want to do?" She asked. She wasn't sure if she was happy for him or not. It seemed so far removed from what he had originally said he wanted. He'd wanted to be a school teacher like his dad, to have a quiet life once the dangers of Rita and Zedd were past them. Racing cars was dangerous. Tommy liked risked, loved to sky dive and take his bike off road, but racing?

"I…" He paused and his shoulders deflated a little as he thought about it. "Yes." He answered, turning to look directly at her. "I really do Kim. Driving that car, it was so…" He paused, thinking how to explain it. It wasn't like a zord, nothing compared to that, but it was pretty close.

"We'd stay in Angel Grove then?" She asked, eyes twinkling as she watched his face.

"Stone Canyon." He answered, although it was pretty much the same thing.

Kim sat back and pretended to think about it. "I supposed I could make do with Stone Canyon Academy of the Arts." She mused cheekily and he grinned. They both knew she could commute to Angel University if she wanted to.

"It's ok with you then?" He asked hopefully.

"I'm totally fine with it if that's what you want." She answered, smiling and reaching out to take his hands.

"This is gonna be good for us Kim, you'll see." He said, squeezing her hands back.

She smiled back in return, but swallowed hard against the feelings of unease she felt. She didn't like change. There had been too much change in her life already. She wanted things nice and safe and planned out, but somehow, she didn't think the Power was ever going to let that happen.

* * *

"Molly, please hurry, we're going to be late picking Kimberly up." Andrea coaxed in his thick French accent.

He was the happiest he had been in a very long time, but there was also a good deal of trepidation in the pit of his stomach. He loved Molly, loved her children, but he simply wasn't sure how their news would be received.

"I'm nervous." She admitted, slipping past the bedroom door while trying to fit the loop of her earring through the tiny hole in her earlobe.

"This is for the best." He replied seriously. "We both know it. Today's monster attack proved it. You were so fearful, it's not good for you right now. You must think about…"

Molly placed a finger to her lips in a gesture for him to be quiet, then peered across the family room to where Michael was playing video games on the television set. She hadn't told her children and wouldn't until later that evening.

She doubted either of them would be very happy; her daughter the least. She knew they both liked Andre, but they also thought he was permanently based in Angel Grove. Nervousness settled in the pit of her stomach; it was for the best, she reminded herself.

* * *

"Where are you headed in such a hurry?" Carri asked as Tommy raced past her toward the exit of the youth center.

"Gotta get ready for my karate class." He answered, swinging his backpack up over his shoulder. He raised his hand in a quick goodbye gesture, but didn't turn back around.

Having just been ditched by her boyfriend in favor of baseball try-outs, she shrugged, ready to comment on men and their obsession with their respective sports, but, seeing Kim at a far corner table, didn't dwell on it. "Can I interest you in a fifty percent off sale at the mall?" She offered, sliding into a chair next to her friend.

"I wish." Kim answered, closing her history book and tossing the pencil back down. ""My mom and André are picking me up in a few minutes."

"Celebrating the first day of school?" Carri asked, bummed that she had no one to hang out with and really not wanting to go home.

Home for Carri wasn't exactly fun recently. Her mom was convinced that she needed to be packed off to a European girls school somewhere far removed from the temptations of a Latin boyfriend, her dad was almost nonexistent now that he'd been devoting his attentions to a pretty blond actress starring in his latest TV drama, her brother had supposedly made the tabloids again with his college frat partying, and her cousin was handling the strife at home by striving to become the perfect nineteen-fifties "Sandra Dee" gum drop poster child. Personally, Carri felt it was all bullshit on all their parts, but she was distinctly in the minority on that one.

"I think they're going to get married." She answered, omitting that the ghost had already informed her that her mother was actually several weeks pregnant and Andre had proposed.

"Really?" Carri asked, waving Ernie off as he approached; if she was the only left, she wasn't staying. "Are you ok with that?"

Kim paused and thought for a moment. She was actually far more ok with it than the ghost was. The ghost of the other Kimberly had been very upset, but the two had stayed up until the early hours of the morning talking through it. "I like Andre." She replied.

"Like him enough to call him daddy?" Her friend asked.

"Yes," She answered with a smile. "He makes my mom really happy."

Carri chewed her lip as she thought about her friend's response. The marriage between her parents hadn't been a happy one for a very long time. She wasn't sure it was going to last now that her dad was making an idiot of himself with a girl only four and a half years older than she was, but she was pretty sure he didn't exactly make her mom happy. Then again, her father's "toys" had always been a staple of their very unconventional marriage. Her mother had always turned a blind eye, so who could say?

"What's this?" she asked, changing the subject and picking up a notebook with what looked like financial stuff scrawled all over it.

"Nothing." Her friend answered, quickly snatching it back and slipping it under her history book.

"Oh-kay." Carri responded slowly, gauging her friend's reaction with sharp eyes. It was obvious the book wasn't the nothing her friend insisted. "It had Tommy's scratchy penmanship all over it. I was just gonna ask if Mr. Perpetually Late had forgotten it in his rush to get out of here."

Kim fingered the sides of the notebook carefully, looking guiltily around the Youth Center to see if anyone was looking or could overhear her. "Can you keep a secret?" She asked. Carri responded with a look that she was offended her friend had to ask.

"It's a budget." Kim explained, pulling the notebook out from under her textbook.

"A budget for what?"

"College." Kim answered, "And other stuff."

"Other stuff like what?" Carri asked, sitting back in her seat and frankly a little disappointed it was something completely mundane. "Like buying a new sword to hang on the wall or video games?"

"Like…getting married." Kim whispered conspiratorially. She'd promised Tommy she wouldn't talk to anyone, but she couldn't help it, the only other person who knew was the ghost and she thought the two were completely insane.

"You are so not serious." Carri responded flatly, but when her friend nodded, her jaw dropped despite her best efforts to keep it shut. "First of all, you're both way too young, your parents will never allow it, second of all…are you completely out of your mind?"

"No, we've got it all worked out." Kim insisted, sorry she'd let the secret out. She had hoped Carri would be supportive. "That's what the notebook is, a budget, a plan…everything we need to think about."

"Did you maybe think about getting through college first?" He friend scolded. Getting married was preposterous. This was the time in your life that you played, that you enjoyed being big enough to do semi-grownup stuff with the stipulation that you're still young enough to be forgiven if you screw up. The time for serious stuff was decades away; at least for her.

"But don't you ever think about being with Rocky?" Kim countered, realizing her friend was not on the same page she was.

"Being with him, yeah…married?" She replied, making a face that could be interpreted as facing a fate worse than death.

"Not ever?"

"I dunno…" She answered, shrugging uncomfortably. "If things work out after high school, after college….maybe. I dunno, it kinda blows my mind thinking about being with the same person that long."

"Then why…never mind." Kim said and closed her mouth. She'd been about to ask why she'd slept with him if she didn't know she wanted to be with him forever, but that wasn't a fair question.

"Because I wanted to." Carri answered for her, already well aware of what the question was supposed to be. "I like him, I like the way I feel when I'm with him. I wanted the first time to be with a guy I like, who likes me, not some creep my mother thinks is appropriate for me to date because his mother goes to the same club she does."

Kim wasn't sure what to say. Sometimes, with Carri, there wasn't anything she could say. They were really very much alike, but also very different. Carri was on a mission to prove she was her own person and would live life on her terms, but Kim's mission was more to finally find a safe place to love and be loved.

"Look…" Carri offered after a few moments of silence. "It's not like I'm counting on it or anything, but if it happens…well, ok…and in the meantime, you know, good for you and Tommy if you can make it work."

Kim had a reply, but she bit down on it. Carri didn't spontaneously throw bones or peace offerings very often; that was about as close to an 'I'll consider your point of view' as she was going to get. It was extremely frustrating that no one seemed to understand. Then again, how could they?

Precious few beings knew that she was a transplant; that she wasn't the Kimberly that had started out on this world. Fewer knew what her life had been like before. She'd been all but an orphan, with no mom, no brother, and a dad that didn't want her. She'd lived in the Command Center, the Rangers had been her whole life, but yet she'd had no one. The Tommy of her home world had loved Katherine Hillard, not her, and firmly rejected and discouraged any idea that she should think of him in any terms other than that of a friend and team leader.

This world was so different. She had a home with a mom and a brother and a grandmother and aunts and uncles and cousins. Most of all, she had Tommy. She didn't ever want to go back; lose what was so precious all over again. She'd do anything to stay exactly where she was.

Carri looked up and she followed her friend's gaze to see her mom waving her towards the exit. "My mom's here." She said, although it was obvious. "I gotta go."


	2. Chapter 2: Changes

0Power Rangers: The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning

Chapter 2: Changes

_Disclaimer: The Power Rangers belong to Disney. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks for the loan of such a fabulous character. Everything else is from my imagination._

* * *

Author's Note: HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

* * *

Kim was stunned. She'd been prepared for her mother's announcement. The ghost had already told her that Andre had proposed and that the reason he'd proposed was her mother's unexpected pregnancy, but she was not in any way prepared for the news that the family was also expected to pack up and move to France within the month. She simply sat there, dumbstruck, and stared at them.

"Kimberly say something." Her mother urged uncomfortably. This was just as difficult for her as it was for them. She was in love with Andre and had been for some time, but the idea of marrying again had always been out of the question for her; she'd been too badly burned. She also didn't want to be the cliché mother that forced her kids to have a step father and moved them far from home, but circumstances now demanded that she had to make that kind of choice. She was, first and foremost, a parent choosing what was best for her family and her kids would just have to understand that.

Angel Grove was, literally, the most dangerous city in the world to live in. Andre had been trying for nearly a year to get her to move with the children to his home city of Paris, a safe city a half a world away from Power Rangers and monster attacks, but she'd refused. Angel Grove was her home, her family had lived there for more than a hundred years and she had every intention of living there the rest of her life. Now that she was pregnant again, however, Andre had a much larger voice than he'd had before. The baby was his and he absolutely, under no uncertain circumstances, wanted that child endangered by monster attacks.

In her heart, she knew he was right. Paris was safer, the opportunity for her was better, the opportunity for him was better, and the children would have a fabulous international experience and a great education. She would be separated from her mother and her family, but she would also be thousands of miles away from her ex… and that in and of itself couldn't be considered anything less than as a major bonus. The kids would simply have to adjust.

"This is totally bogus." Michael spat, just a little louder than he should have, then thumped back into the restaurant booth and slumped down with a sulky pout. He liked Andre well enough, but he didn't want a little brother or sister and he certainly didn't want to have to move to a different country.

"Michael!" Their mother admonished. She knew her children might not be happy and had been prepared for the worst, but the severity of their reactions surprised her. She knew they both liked Andre, he was a good man; better to them than their father was.

"Well it is." He fired back. "I don't even speak France and now you want me to go to school there?"

"French, Michael." Their mother corrected. "In France they speak French."

"We have found you an English school Michael." Andre cajoled softly. "With an American curriculum…yes, they exist in Paris, they really do. You will be living at home with your mother and we will find the tutors you need to help you learn our beautiful language. But I am the most pleased and excited to tell you that the Headmistress of my daughter's school has very graciously found us a place for our dearest Kimberly this year. It is a most difficult academy to gain admission to and we are very fortunate. " He added, grinning in delight at Kim. "You will adore the program there my poppet, I know the art teacher personally and once he discovers your true talents as I have, you will thrive my darling, positively thrive under his tutelage."

"It's an all girls school, Kimberly." Her mother added. "But the focus is liberal arts. They have a huge theater and art curriculum, it's very exclusive, we're really very lucky Andre has connections there. Half of the day is taught in French and half is taught in English, but they have many American girls there and they will work with you on your French studies."

"My girls adore it." Andre added.

Kim stared at them, unable to say anything. This was the last thing she expected. Her life was finally coming together. She had the Rangers, she had a social life, she had a best friend, she had Tommy…

Tommy…the very thought of not being with him made her head spin and her gut wrench with nausea. They had plans, she thought desperately; this would ruin everything. How could she possibly live if she was separated from him? How could she ever leave the Rangers? Panic began welling up from deep within her. She couldn't, it was impossible…she wouldn't. Her mind raced, she'd have to get out of it, Zordon would help her, she knew he would; he'd helped her before. But how?

"How could you do this to us?" Michael squeaked, voice breaking and making everyone around him flinch as it skyrocketed up several octaves. "All my friends go to Angel Middle, they're all going to Angel Grove High, the whole reason we moved into that smaller house after dad left was so Kim and me could stay with our friends and be close to family…now we're being asked to move millions of miles away from everybody."

"Plans change honey." Their mother answered softly. "This is for the best."

"The best for who?" Michael demanded testily, if his sister was just going to sit there like a deer caught in the headlights and not say anything in their defense, then he sure as heck would. It was the most horrendous thing to happen to him since their dad left. Not only was he going to have to leave the only town he'd ever known, he was going to have to deal with the totally humiliating fact that it was gonna get out that their mother had gotten herself knocked up. She was thirty-six, almost thirty-seven years old; she should know better…it was disgusting. Andre in and of himself was fine, he liked the guy, but he didn't need them producing any evidence that they…well, that they…liked each other…that way.

"This is the best for your mother." Andre answered softly, but firmly. He had expected the children to be distressed, but he was positive once the move was complete and they were settled into his Paris flat that they would be happy once more. He adored both of her children, Kimberly especially since she was so sweet and shared his passion for painting and creating art. It was only the frightening aspect of the unknown that bothered them…and he understood that.

"Angel Grove is a very dangerous place to be." He insisted in his heavy French accent. "Your mother, she is very delicate now, you must both be very grown up and mature and think of her needs above your own. She worries too much, especially about the safety of you both; it is not good for the little one. You both must agree, she must rest and not be troubled."

"When we all made the decision to stay put and buy the little house we're in now, Angel Grove wasn't suffering monster attacks." Their mother reasoned. "Things have changed. This isn't a safe place for either of you….for any of us."

Molly stole a hesitant look at her daughter and resisted the urge to blanch. She had progressed so much since the monster attack the previous year that had stolen her memory. There were many times, aside from the lack of gymnastics in their lives, that she simply forgot it had ever happened. Her daughter had never openly admitted being associated with the Power Rangers or, for that matter, exactly what she did for the Power Rangers, but she knew full well that Kimberly and her friends, especially the boyfriend, never headed for the shelters when the attacks came and the stress of waiting to hear from her each and every time the all clear had sounded was definitely taking its toll.

"Kimberly say something." He mother urged again, worried by the look on her daughter's face. Gone was the soft, happy look she generally wore and back in place was the hard, cold, rebellious one she'd worn for so many weeks after her accident. The reversion was frightening.

"I can't leave." Kim said firmly, eyes solidifying from a soft, doe-brown, to a cold black. "You know why I can't leave." She added, giving her mother an intense look.

"Kimberly, we have explained this my darling." Andre answered, not understanding her. "We all need to pull behind your mother now, to do what is best for her and the little one to come, yes? I have been offered a more than substantial position teaching art at the University and your mother has such a wonderful opportunity open to her at the new gallery. We will all work together to build ourselves a new life there. We will all be together and be happy and this is the most important thing in life, no?"

"I have responsibilities." She said insistently, eyes boring into her mother, willing her to understand what she couldn't say out loud. Her mother winced, which confirmed to her that she understood, but both of them held firm.

"Well then you're just going to have to find someone else to deal with those responsibilities, aren't you?" Molly replied firmly. She had expected the resistance and was prepared for it. Like it or not, her daughter was only sixteen, it was still up to the mother to decide what was best, not the child.

"There isn't anyone else." Kim fired back, anger slipping. She'd never come right out and told her about being the pink Ranger, but after her second hospitalization, it had been an understanding between them that she was at least working with them; her volunteer work, as her mother once commented. Her mother knew she couldn't leave, why would she do this to her?

"Trust me, everyone's replaceable Kimberly." Molly responded drolly, thinking of her own life experiences.

It was a sad fact in life and the sooner her daughter learned that painful reality the better. Kimberly had been seriously hurt and hospitalized twice in the past year. She had lost her memory, had limped home time and gain in the months since, leaving her mother to watch helplessly as she shrugged off the bruises and burns that marked her body and destroyed her clothes. The time was long past for the Rangers to find someone else to endanger their life; not her daughter. Kimberly had given enough and she, as the parent, needed to step in and insist her daughter now needed to leave. She had no doubts that whoever it was recruiting Angel Grove's children would be more than able to find someone else's daughter to endanger.

"No!" Kim shouted, slamming the palms of her hands down on the table top and drawing more than a few eyes in her direction. Tears framed her eyes and threatened to spill over her eyelashes. It was her worst nightmare come to life. Life was finally good, she wasn't about to lose what had taken her so long to achieve. She wouldn't do it, the Rangers were her life, Tommy was her life, she wouldn't give that up; not now, not ever.

"Here now, what's this?" Andre intervened. He was not blind to the fact that such a move would be scary for the children, or that the children might be upset to learn their mother was not only marrying a man other than their father, but also having that man's baby, but he was under the assumption that they, at the very least, were fond of him and encouraged the match.

"Kimberly Ann Hart, you are sixteen years old and like it or not still under my control. This is going to happen whether you like it or not." Molly shot back, losing her temper yet realizing, even as she said the words, that it was the absolute wrong thing to say to her teenage daughter.

"I won't go!" Kim shouted as she jumped out of the booth and turned to march out of the restaurant. "And you can't make me!"

"Kimberly…come back here!" Her mother called after her, but Kim was already fleeing the restaurant at top speed. Then, to the amazement and horror of all watching, she disappeared in a flash of tear streamed red light.

* * *

Tommy was frustrated. He closed the screen on the computer console and sat back with a tired sigh. He didn't want to go home.

Home wasn't horrible or anything, but his step-father had taken the afternoon off and he'd rather just wait until both parents had gone to bed and he could sneak into a quiet house on his own. It wasn't that he didn't like his step father, he was ok, but they had nothing in common. His mother's husband had tried his best to win him over, but he liked baseball and football and thought martial arts and long hair was a bit girlie; that kinda lead to unnecessary arguments. The problem was though, he was tired and didn't want to continue working on the computer either.

"Inconclusive?" Billy asked, looking up from the panel he was rewiring. The white Ranger nodded and he went back to his work.

Tommy watched him for a few moments then rubbed his eyes and sat forward again, debating whether or not to start another search or let it be. Technically, the Rangers weren't allowed to use the Command Center's computers for personal stuff, but Zordon had turned a blind eye to his searches.

He had always known he was adopted, but until recently had never really wanted to know who his birth parents were. He thought about it, wondered, but never acted; until now.

Now that Kim was in his life, he couldn't help but wonder. They were talking about being a family. A family of their very own; his family. Eventually, a long way down the road, they'd have kids; his own flesh and blood.

Thoughts and musing like those caused many of the questions he'd been suppressing since childhood to surface. He wanted to know why he'd been given up, where he'd come from. Did he have any brothers and sisters? Did they look like him? Did they like martial arts more than baseball? Collect swords and other weapons his parents considered a little odd? Did they like to fight a good fight? Was that a normal impulse in him? He just didn't know…and he desperately wanted to.

He had always felt different, but until the Alternate had come into his life, he'd never really understood just how big the disconnection was or what a massive void existed within him. She filled that void; the emptiness that he'd really never stopped to examine. He didn't feel like an outsider with her, there were no longer pieces missing to his life when she was there and that contrast, more than anything else, got him thinking.

He suddenly had to know the answers to the questions he'd thought about, but never asked. He doubted he'd been abandoned, but yet there was that very dark side of him that he feared and hated. Was that inherited? Was that something his birth mother wanted away from? He wanted very much to think his mom was right and that he'd been given up simply because his mother wanted a better life for him, but what if she really hadn't wanted him? Why him? Why had he been given away? Part of him honestly wasn't sure he wanted to know, but then again… knowing might not alleviate his anxieties, but at least he could go on with life.

"Man, I just don't get it." He muttered to no one in particular. "It's like the name on my birth certificate doesn't even exist."

"Perhaps the use of an alias was employed." Billy suggested, stopping his work again to regard his friend. It wasn't often that the Rangers asked his opinion or included him in on discussions regarding their personal lives. It was kind of nice that the team's leader had chosen to engage him in such a distinctly private matter. At least, he assumed the white Ranger was addressing him and not Zordon.

"Looks like it." He answered, simply staring at the screen as if the document staring back at him would somehow speak and tell him what wasn't recorded.

"Is there a paternal name listed?" Billy suggested.

"John Doe." He replied drolly, turning to give his friend a sarcastic look.

"As in the standard default name given to unidentified males?" Billy asked. There was a ninety-nine point nine percent probability that he was correct, but he knew Tommy was also assumed to have descended from an American Indian ancestry and there was always the slight probability that-that was the actual name of his biological father. He was getting better at social conversation with his peers, but it still generally assumed more causality with idioms than he was comfortable with and he simply wasn't sure.

"As in…" Tommy muttered, still staring at the screen. "There's a record showing my mother arrived at the Stone Canyon Hospital ER, not a hospital in Arizona like my mother said, gave birth, and then walked out without being released. She was twenty years old, in good health, and that's it. The hospital filed a proof of birth with the Social Security Administration, Social Services has a record of me being abandoned at the hospital, and then the trail picks up with my parents and all their paperwork for my adoption. That's it."

"Perhaps there were extenuating circumstances." Billy offered.

"Like what?" He asked, frustrated, but also realizing if the records weren't there, they simply weren't there. There was a chance that the information he needed just hadn't been computerized yet, but he doubted it. The Command Center's computers could search out and coordinate data in ways that Earth wouldn't see for decades.

"Extenuating circumstances would have to be left to the realm of conjecture of course, but it could be considered a valid argument that perhaps she had failed to inform her parents of her expectant status. If the identity given to the medical personal in the emergency room was an nom de plume, then it's not an illogical assumption to assume that her age was also a fabrication and that she was most likely, in all probably, a minor who could possibly have been apprehensive of parental disapproval."

"So you're saying she was most likely a kid who got scared and ran off without telling anyone she ever had me?" Tommy asked. Even though he had to admit that-that made the most sense, he didn't like that answer; it wasn't specific enough. He had decided he wanted to know and the knowledge that he couldn't know didn't sit well with him.

"It's a logical hypothesis." Billy offered, realizing his friend didn't like that answer. He could empathize, to a point, but knowing who his birth mother was had never brought him much happiness. He was far more content with her living on the other side of the continent and leaving him and his dad in peace.

"I must agree with Billy." Zordon said from his power tube, and the two turned to look up at him. "While I can sympathize with your frustrations to know and connect with your heritage, it is apparently not the wish of your birth parents that you should do so. It is important to remember Tommy, that whatever the choices of your birth mother, you were given into a loving and stable home. The genealogy of a child is never as important as the nurture and opportunity it receives in its developmental environment."

"That's all well and good," Tommy responded with just a hint of frustration, "But I want to understand where I come from, why I feel the way I do. I'm not like my adopted parents, I'm not like my cousins… I'm different. I want to know why I think the way I do, what makes me tick."

"I understand." Zordon replied kindly. "Such existential questions are not unusual and very normal, especially among Rangers of your age and development, but I can, with great confidence, advise you that the answers you seek are not to be found in the legacy past down to you from your biological parents, but from deep within yourself; only there will you find the answers to the questions and insecurities that linger within you."

"I guess." Tommy muttered, not really wanting to agree. Something about the whole situation just didn't sit well with him.

* * *

Kat sat on the large sectional couch with her knees pulled up to her chest and two throw pillows mashed one against each ear to drown out her cousin's screeching. She honestly didn't know what Carri expected; she broke the rules, again, and this time she'd gotten caught and was being punished for it. She didn't have to howl at the moon and smash every breakable object in site.

Her cousin had asked her to keep quiet about her having sex with Rocky, which she was normally more than willing to do, but her Aunt had specifically wanted to know about it and she'd already warned her cousin she wasn't going to lie about it if she was directly asked. Lying never got you anywhere but in trouble, and after suffering Rita's spells last year she was done with getting into trouble. Carri broke the rules, Carri got caught, and she was sorry, but it wasn't her fault…not that her cousin saw it that way.

Of course, Carri had set out to cause herself this kind of grief more than a year before. She was on a mission to "remake" herself, although why that was, Kat didn't have a clue. She lived in a beautiful home, had two parents that loved her, she got pretty much anything she wanted, had all kinds of incredible opportunities just handed to her, and all she had to do in return she had to obey the rules and be a good girl. Why that was so hard completely baffled her, but her cousin was convinced that her life was torturously horrible.

Since this "makeover" of hers, she'd done everything she could to completely aggravate her parents and cause grief in the home. She'd quit cheerleading, dance, and modeling in favor of martial arts, which her mother completely disapproved of and fretted constantly that she'd break her nose or lose a tooth. She talked back to her parents and actually openly accused her dad of fooling around on her mother; which was ridiculous, he simply traveled a lot. She'd dumped any and all of the friends from their neighborhood and country club simply to spite her mother; although Kat had to admit she liked the Rangers a lot more. She had changed her beautiful pink designer wardrobe to some absolutely risqué black and yellow tank tops and tight pants which her mother cringed over, but on the bright side of that at least Kat had-had the benefit on inheriting everything as hand-me-downs. And finally, Carri had even had dyed her hair back to dark brown after her mother had spent thousands of dollars helping her keep it blond. She had rebelled at every corner, refusing to be nice and polite and get along and simply adopting a completely difficult personality. She was the talk of the whole family, and more than one tabloid, and her parents had been left shaking their heads in embarrassment.

It hadn't been easy living in the same household, but Kat had tried very hard to be a good girl since she'd shaken Rita's spell. She decided the only way to properly to thank her Aunt and Uncle for their kindness was by not causing waves…yet somehow that was even more of a source of her cousin's angst and their friendship had suffered terribly. Personally, she didn't approve one bit with the route Carri was taking. If you were going to recreate yourself, that was one thing, but Carri had gone too far. Although she certainly wasn't against being kissed, especially by a certain white Ranger if he should ever be so inclined, she agreed with her mom and her Aunt that young girls needed to guard themselves against boys and keep themselves "special" for their wedding nights. It was something that she believed absolutely deep down into her sixteen, almost seventeen, year old core and it simply didn't sit well, to put it mildly, that her cousin had flung her decision to have extramarital sex right in her face as if she was gloating about it. She didn't care if the boy was a Power Ranger; it was wrong.

Carri's parents had been out of the house on a trip and the firm and final rule had been "no boys." Carri had broken it within the first hour and when confronted by her aunt, Kat had been honest. It wasn't tattling, it was telling the truth; her aunt needed to know. When asked if Carri was lying, she'd said yes. When asked if Carri and the boy had fooled around, she'd admitted they had, and then, when further pressed if Carri had-had sex, she'd broken down in tears and all her frustrations with her cousin had come pouring out. She'd felt so much better after unburdening herself, but unfortunately, the catharsis had landed her cousin in a lot of hot water.

But what was she supposed to do? She'd walked in on them accidentally simply by opening Carri's bedroom door without knocking and had been given a full view of them tumbling around. It hadn't been her fault, how could she have known? She was going just going to ask if she wanted to watch a movie on TV and there they were, for all the world to see.

It had been scary too. Her cousin had been crying out and Rocky had been wrestling with her so roughly that it honestly looked like he was hurting her. That wasn't making love, that was….well, she wasn't sure what that was, but it wasn't love. Carri had argued that her cousin knew full well her parents had removed the locks on both the girl's doors and it was an unwritten rule that neither would just walk in without being invited, but it had never dawned on her that she had actually snuck a boy into the house.

The whole thing had been very traumatic for her. She was positive that the memory of her cousin and Rocky all tangled up and sweaty together would scar her for life, but did her cousin care? No, absolutely not, she was screaming so loud at her that her water glass was vibrating on the coffee table and calling her the most horrid names; half of which she didn't know the meaning of. It was hurtful and spiteful and she completely resented her for it.

"I'm being sent away!" Carri howled, snatching up a pillow and considering smashing it against the blond head of her blabbermouth of a cousin. In the end, she thought better of it and slammed it into the wall, dislodging a framed picture in the process. "How could you!"

"It's your own fault." Kat fired back, completely unrepentant. "You knew the rules."

"You told! Mom hadn't been home ten minutes and you just blabbed it all out didn't you! I can't ever see him again because of you!"

"Stop it!" Kat fired back, becoming angry despite her resolve not to. "I told you if they asked me I wouldn't lie."

"You didn't have to volunteer details!" Carri exploded so angrily that she looked very much like one of the inhabitants of the Lunar Palace. "Oh my god! My mother knew everything you saw when you barged in on us!"

"You broke the rules, you got caught, you're just going to have to live with the consequences." Kat snapped, but she did, at least, have the decency to look embarrassed.

"Of which you benefit so nicely don't you?" Carri snarled, wondering how many years she'd have to spend in jail if she actually strangled the other girl.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her cousin countered testily. She'd really had it with Carri's temper. Her tantrums were completely uncalled for.

"I'm being sent away…to an all girls school…in New York!" Carri shrieked, balling her fists, shaking them, and then tossing her head back in outrage. "That's twenty-five-hundred miles away from my boyfriend!"

It was outrageous. For the first time in a long, long, time she was happy and felt loved by someone who actually valued her…not the pretty little girl to promote the image of an ideal family and not some loser's hot rich girlfriend…her, who she really was. She was happy…really and truly happy…and now everything was completely ruined. Why? Because after being evil incarnate for weeks on end last year, her blonde idiot of a cousin felt she had to do a one-eighty and be the absolutely perfect angel Carri herself refused to be anymore. She hadn't broken half the rules Kat had in her tenure as Rita's servant and in all that time she covered for her cousin night and day and then on the backside had held her hand as she sorted through all the damage she'd done…. yet she was the one being sent away from the one guy in the entire universe that really loved her. It wasn't fair!

"And I benefit from that how?" Kat demanded, temper rising.

"You get to stay! You get the whole damn house all to yourself! Last year you were a hundred times worse than me and I'm the one that's getting punished because my mom can't deal with the rule breaking anymore!"

"How does staying here benefit me?" Kat pressed, blue eyes flashing every bit as angrily as her cousin's brown ones. "It's not like my parents are here, it's not like I get any special privileges. I live here, but I'm still a guest; it's not really my home."

"Because you get to stay?" Carri snarled sarcastically. She didn't get it and that, in and of itself, made her wanted to strangle the other girl even more. "You get to date. You get to stay at Angel Grove High and go to proms and keep your freedom…you were so much worse than me and you never once got punished for anything!"

"Oh please, this has nothing to do with me, this is your fault, you chose to break the rules, and I refuse to take any responsibility for the consequences of your actions. The only time I've ever flaunted the rules was under Rita's spell and that doesn't count because it wasn't my fault. I'm not getting any special privileges for being good and if you'd just think about it reasonably, you're not really being punished either. You're getting sent away to really nice boarding school because you're out of control and your parents love you enough to want to help you before you destroy yourself in your stupid quest to remake yourself. I didn't do anything wrong, if anything I helped you!"

"Bullshit!" Carri howled, fists balled in an attempt not to actually hit the other girl. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

"You're out of control Carri. You're making really bad choices."

"Like you haven't." Carri replied, "You can pretend all you want, but this virginal, holier than thou side of you only showed up after Rita's evil spell scared you into it. You aren't the perfect little angel you pretend to be and it's gonna come back to smack you in the face some day. Huff and puff all you want about morals and 'saving yourself' but someday you're gonna screw up and everyone's gonna see you're not so perfect after all…and mark my words, when that happens I'll be there and I'm gonna crow like there's no tomorrow, just like you're smugly crowing now."

"Stop it!" Kat shot back for lack of anything better to say.

"You're not all that wonderful Kat. Rita's spell didn't turn you into anything that wasn't already there. Deep down you're just as mean and spiteful as I am but at least I admit it. What makes you worse it that you put on pretentious airs and pretend you're better than everyone else!"

"Take that back!" Kat fired back. It wasn't fair, she'd behaved, she'd followed the rules, it was just meanness that her cousin would twist things around on her like that. But when Carri simply crossed her arms defiantly in front of her, she burst into tears and fled the room with a high pitched wail.

"Oh great." Carri moaned, throwing her hands up in the air dramatically. "I suppose now I'm gonna get sent all the way to Europe."

* * *

"Hey, what's going on?" Tommy asked as he found Rocky in the park.

The sun had already set and the overhead lamps from above were casting eerie shadows around the climbing structure the Red Ranger was seated on. It was strange in itself that Rocky would call him instead of Adam, but even stranger that he'd paged him at the Command Center when he hadn't found him at home.

"Carri's mom found out about me and her." He blurted out before Tommy even had a chance to get close enough to see the anguish in the other boys face. "She's not allowed to see me anymore."

Tommy stopped in his tracks, allowing the cold chill of his own fears to slide down his back as he digested the news, then stepped forward, closer to his friend. It was his greatest fear that Kim's mom would forbid them to be together for the same reasons, but their situation was a little different. Kim had insisted on being honest with her mom since the very beginning and while that honesty made him uncomfortable when he was around her mom, he was grateful for it at that moment.

"What am I gonna do?" Rocky moaned, looking at the team's leader in anguish.

Normally, Adam would have been his first choice to turn to when he was in this much pain, but Tommy was a close second and the only friend he knew of that could relate. Adam was his best friend, but he was still nervous around girls and talking about sex made him extremely uncomfortable. Sex had suddenly consumed his relationship with Carri and had changed things in ways he hadn't anticipated. His feelings for her were unlike anything he'd ever experienced with a girl before. They were incredibly intense and the knowledge that she'd been forbidden to see him or talk to him was devastating.

"She's being sent to an all girls school in New York." He continued, head down and hands rubbing anxiously against his thighs as he dealt with the overwhelming emotions coursing through him.

"When?" Tommy asked sympathetically, leaning against the structure. He wasn't sure exactly what he could do to help his friend, but he could empathize.

"As soon as her mom can get her enrolled." He answered. "I don't even know if she'll be allowed to go to school tomorrow."

"When'd you find out?" Tommy asked.

"Just after school." Rocky moaned. "I don't know what to do and I figured you might. I mean you and Kim…if anyone, I figured you'd understand."

Tommy nodded, but he really didn't have an answer. Parental law was firm and strict and unbreakable. Until they got out of high school, there really wasn't much they could do. That was why he and Kim tried hard to not push the rules too much.

It was really frustrating when you stopped to think about it. They were old enough to morph and save the world, but none of them could get out of being grounded for missing curfew if saving that same world took longer than expected. There was something wrong with that, but as none of them could figure out how to change it, they all just nodded and silently accepted that-that was the way it was.

"So what do I do?" Rocky asked despairingly. "I can't lose her Tommy."

"Oh man, I dunno." Tommy answered. He was the leader, he knew he should say something, give some sort of wisdom that would make his friend feel better, but the truth was, he was every bit as young as the red Ranger and every bit as bound to parental rules as he was. "Why don't you tell me the whole story, maybe we can figure out a way to smooth it out, get you back on her mom's good side."

"Her mom went out of town with some friends," Rocky began, "We didn't mean to end up in her room, but we were watching a movie on the couch and things got heavy…" He paused as he tried to get the events straight in his mind. "Next thing we know we're upstairs. I mean, no one was home, not even the butler. We closed her door, but apparently her mom took the locks off the girl's doors after Kat went all psycho under Rita's spell last year."

He paused and took a deep breath, more embarrassed than anything else by the next part. "Well, I mean, you know…things sorta…happened." He paused and looked away uncomfortably, "And then right when things are getting really…intense…"

"Someone walked in." Tommy finished when his friend paused.

"Kat walked in." Rocky supplied, giving his friend a harsh look. "She says she knocked, but neither Carri or I heard anything."

Tommy nodded, he'd just recently had a close call like that too, but fortunately Kim had woken up and realized her mom was home. He wasn't sure what would've happened if they'd been caught. He supposed she would have been grounded, but it wasn't like her mom didn't know.

Her mom hadn't been happy at all about Kim having sex, but she seemed content that her daughter was at least honest about it. It had-had other benefits too, like her mom dragging her to a doctor to talk about birth control and other girl stuff. He, on the other hand, hadn't been able to own up at all to his mother what they were doing. He honestly didn't' even want to contemplate it, but at the same time, he kind of got the feeling she knew and was just as unwilling to open that sort of dialogue.

"She told." Rocky said bitterly. "The minute Carri's mom got home she told on her."

"Oh man, I'm sorry…" Tommy commiserated. As frustrating as it was to have Kim's little brother spy on them and occasionally stalk them with his old Polaroid camera, at least he was on good terms with the kid.

"Why would she do that?"

"I dunno." Tommy sympathized. "Did Carri give you any details?"

"She said she would as soon as she got to school tomorrow; if she's allowed to go to school. Her mom's putting all the blame on her dad's insistence that she go to public high school. All I know is that her mom called my mom and said all these really nasty things about my family and now everyone's really angry."

"How angry was your mom at you?" Tommy asked, wondering if his mom would be angry at him if she found out the same way.

"Lemme put it this way," His friend began in a sarcastic tone, "She found out about it around three this afternoon and I'm just now getting out of a special confession with the priest at church."

"Ouch." Tommy winced. He didn't know all that much about Catholics, but he knew Rocky's mom drug him to confession every Saturday and to church twice a week…and that was just their normal schedule.

"Tommy, what am I gonna do? I don't know how to fix this."

"I don't know." He answered helplessly.

He'd have to think about it and ask Zordon. He wasn't sure if there was anything that could be done. They had broken the rules and they were being separated for it. It didn't seem fair, but parents had the right to determine what was fair and when the deck was stacked against you like that, there wasn't much that they could do. Zordon never crossed their parents; he'd always refused and taken their side against his Rangers.

Before he could ponder the thought too much however, a bright red light flashed and both boys snapped to attention and into a fighting stance, ready to take on any monster that Zedd would think to send their way, but it was no monster that came flying at him from the portal. Tommy was stunned as his girlfriend slammed into him at full speed, nearly knocking him over, and then clung to him with all her might. She sobbed so loudly that he was certain she was hurt or had just escaped some unknown torture inflicted by Goldar himself. Exchanging a baffled look with Rocky, he wrapped his arms around her tightly and began to croon in what he hoped was a comforting tone.

"My mom's pregnant." She sobbed into his chest. "And she's getting married next week…"

"OK." He soothed calmly, patting her back while he digested what was happening. She had appeared out of nowhere and the beam had been red, not pink, which meant that it was Muirantian and she had used one of Kemora's leftover and forbidden powers. "That's not the end of the world Beautiful, it'll be ok."

"The whole family's being relocated to Paris!" She wailed, clinging to him tighter as a fresh wave of tears washed over her. "Including me!"

Tommy wasn't sure he'd heard her right. She was sobbing so hard that the words were kind of garbled and he'd been more focused on wondering if Zordon had picked up on the forbidden transport. When the meaning did get through, he froze, completely stunned, wide eyes snapping up in panic to meet Rocky's.

"Tommy do something!" She wailed. "I don't want to go!"

Then again, he thought silently to himself, maybe it was the end of the world.


	3. Chapter 3: Sacrifices

Power Rangers: The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning

Chapter 3: Sacrifices

_Disclaimer: __The Power Rangers belong to Disney. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks for the loan of such a fabulous character. Everything else is from my imagination._

_

* * *

_

"This isn't happening!" Kim wailed, sinking down to half sit on the computer console. Zordon wouldn't help her. It was unfathomable. "I won't go," She cried irrationally. "She can't make me, she's not my real mother!"

"Kimberly," Zordon said gently from above her. "When you agreed to remain on this world with us, you also agreed to assume the life of our resident Kimberly; with all its responsibilities and obligations. You may not simply disavow your adoptive parent merely because she has made a decision with which you now disagree."

"We also can't just roll over and give up our pink Ranger." Tommy argued, brow knotted in worry and outright fear of his girlfriend leaving Angel Grove. "What about the team?" He asked in near panic, although it wasn't really the team he was thinking of.

His heart was thumping in his chest and his mind whirling. He and Rocky had transported back to the Power Chamber with Kimberly to find a way to thwart her mother's attempts to move her away, but now they were being told very firmly that Zordon would not go against the wishes of her mother that she quit the team; in fact, she could not remain if her mother was against it.

"Fortunately, before Thomas brought us the Alternate of course," Alpha offered helpfully. "A replacement for the original pink Ranger was already in place in case she left us to go to the Pan Games. The team shouldn't miss a beat…although we'll miss you Kimberly." He added hesitantly when his sensors indicated his comment hadn't encouraged the teens as much as he'd intended.

"Oh my God, this isn't happening." Kim moaned, bringing both her hands up to cover her face. "My mom gets pregnant and moves away and that's it? I'm just… replaced?" She asked, bursting into tears despite her best efforts not to. She hated crying and had very little sympathy for females that did, but she simply couldn't help it. The rug had been pulled out from under her once again and she'd fallen flat on her face from the surprise of it.

It was too much for Tommy, feeling more miserable than he had in years, he stepped forward and wrapped him arms around her, lowering his head to the top of hers. He couldn't believe it was happening either. Half of him was numb with shock and the other half wanted to run out and rip something apart. They were so close to being eighteen, just two more years of school and then Kim's mom could go where she wanted and they'd be in a position to wish her well and start their own lives together. There had to be something they could do, he just had to figure out what.

"Kimberly, I understand." Zordon answered tenderly, very aware of the effect the situation was having on the Alternate and his team. Eons ago, in his youth, he had faced a similar situation. However then, as now, he doubted the Great Power would simply forget about the girl. He could feel the wheels of higher powers in motion and he was positive there was a reason she was being repositioned. But how did one explain that to a youth experiencing it for the first time?

"No one can replace you pink Ranger, nor should you personalize this change of events. Each of us must flow with the current with which destiny pulls us." He began, drawing her attention to him. "Each Ranger brings with them a unique force which, when combined in unison with the others, gives the team the best combination of talent and power to stand against whatever evil is opposing them."

"So you're telling me that I'm not what this team needs right now?" She asked, new tears forming in her eyes and dropping down her cheeks.

"Not at all. I have felt the balance of power shifting on the morphing grid for some time now. We must not discount the possibility that your talents are required elsewhere." He responded. "There is a reason for everything Kimberly and I am certain that whatever experiences and challenges await you in your absence from this team will only benefit it upon your return."

"So I can come back?" She asked hopefully, latching on to any dim ray of light in what seemed a hopelessly dark situation.

"Of course you can." A new voice answered and all heads turned in its direction.

"Ai yi, yi! Intruder alert!" Alpha fretted, arms gyrating wildly as he spun around towards the visitors and then back to the Rangers. "The alarms must have malfunctioned! Rangers! Alert!"

"Welcome K." Zordon answered calmly, referring to the alternate Kimberly who had recently requested the aide of his Rangers. Her appearance was a surprise to him, but not entirely unexpected. "Calm yourself Alpha, it is merely the return of a friend."

Kim turned and saw the older alternate of herself standing with the alternate of Tommy from her dimension. They appeared to be about a decade or so older than she was, but she knew this particular alternate was much older. She worked with Thomas, the guardian who had saved her from the demon Kemora and placed her on the world she was in now. The Rangers had also traveled as a group across dimensions a few months before to help her save her dying world.

"I apologize for the intrusion Zordon." K said, stepping forward and facing the great wizard in his power tube. "I thought it best to arrive in the caverns directly below the Command Center rather than outside where Lord Zedd might notice the dimensional disturbance of my transport.

"There is no need for apologies K." Zordon answered, nodding. "I have noted Lord Zedd's increasing vigilance. You were wise to take precautions."

The increase in Zedd's monitoring had him concerned. He had heard rumblings in the galaxy that the Machine Empire was on the move again after decades of relative quiet and there were also stirrings surrounding a demon named Dark Specter that would require vigilant observation. He knew exactly what K was and the fact that a dimensional guardian of her birthright and power had arrived in the exact moment the fates were removing the Alternate from his care gave him pause. There was more in play than a simple transition.

K smiled warmly at the alternate of her long gone mentor, then stepped forward to face the younger version of herself. "Thomas tells me that a flux has entered your life." She began, a twinkle glimmering from her eyes even as she clasped the girl's hands in sympathy.

"My mom's moving us to Paris!" Kim wailed, another fresh set of tears forming in her eyes. "Zordon won't go against her wishes that he needs to find a replacement."

K smiled warmly at her in commiseration, then turned to face Zordon. "And the replacement has been assigned?" She asked.

"Katherine Hillard." He responded, taking a direct approach. He had thought to give the teens time to digest the news that Kimberly would be leaving, but the guardian's presence changed that. Thomas had once thought it was more prudent to replace his fallen pink with an alternate from another dimension rather than allow the young Australian to assume her place. If he had sent his protégé to oversee the new transition, he would listen closely to her suggestions before making the decision final.

"No!" Kim shouted unexpectedly and all eyes turned to her. "Anyone but her…Zordon, why?"

"Katherine was brought from Australia and placed with her relatives before the death of the resident Kimberly." Zordon answered. "Her survival and ability to rebound from Rita's spell has proven her to be of strong character and heart."

"You have an objection?" K asked, turning back to the girl with a curious look. Katherine was the logical replacement, although she doubted any of the Rangers would understand why. Her morphanological ancestry alone was unparalleled and would make her a desirable candidate for any Master Ranger, but most alternate Katherines also had strong spirits and solid inner cores; determined, loyal, and honorable. She had her own qualms with the Katherine of her world, but no one could deny she was a good ranger.

Kim paused, unwilling to answer. How could she admit that the only reason to keep Kat from becoming a Ranger was jealousy? That seemed a cruel reason to deny her, but she couldn't help it. The Tommy on her home world had been completely in love with the pretty blond girl and her greatest fear was that the Tommy from this world would realize the same thing. There was no real reason she should object; only her own fears. Looking up hesitantly, she saw her alternate was studying her closely.

"Carri would be a better choice." Rocky piped up eagerly. He was honestly sorry the Alternate was leaving, but if there was a space open, then he'd much rather see his girlfriend fill it.

"You have a Carri in Angel Grove?" K asked curiously, turning and giving the boy an interested look. She dropped the younger Kim's hands, looking briefly to catch her husband's reaction, then back at the red Ranger, and finally to Zordon. "Mild tempered or combustible?" She asked with an amused grin; only half serious.

Carri Hillard was a more dicey substitute for the Mighty Morphin team, which is why she rarely appeared in those alternate timelines. She was descended from the same lineage as her cousin, which theoretically gave her the same innate advantages, but if the current pink Ranger had a problem with Katherine, then there was no reason not to go with one cousin over the other. The more mild versions, milquetoasts, as her own Carri referred to them, would do well enough in pink, but the stronger versions were better suited to yellow or black and could possibly cause frictions with the resident Tommy until they had a chance to mature and mellow a bit.

"Definitely combustible." The resident Tommy answered in a disgruntled manner. He honestly didn't have a problem with Rocky's girlfriend, in fact, he agreed she'd be a stronger ranger and the last thing he wanted on his team was another silly, prissy pink like the original resident Kimberly had been. The problem was, he didn't want either Hillard. He wanted Zordon to come up with a way to make Kim's mother leave her behind. The team had gone through enough, he had gone through enough. They didn't need any more changes. It was going to ruin everything. They only had another couple of years and then they could chose for themselves. In his young mind, it was just another example of the unfairness the Rangers faced in their life outside the Power Chamber. He was tired of parental control; he was ready to grow up and live his own life.

K crossed her arms in front of her, one hand rising and the fingers pulling at her chin in thought. "The more exigent versions don't do well in pink," She mused honestly, again steeling a glance at her husband, but he kept his reactions completely neutral. "They're more suited to stronger coins and crystals that don't utilize high estrogen levels, but I see no reason why one cousin couldn't be substituted for the other."

"It is my understanding that Carri Hillard has been restricted from contact with Rocky." Zordon replied, curious at the guardian's willingness to substitute the two girls. Carri was a young girl he was watching very closely, but for different reasons. He wondered what the guardian knew about the her and what she had accomplished in other dimensions and timelines.

"What?" Kim asked in surprise, whirling around to face the red Ranger, but he lowered his head and shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

"At school…" He responded sullenly. "We're also not allowed to date anymore, but we could work together, no one would know. We don't tell anyone who we really are." He added hopefully, looking up to gauge the reaction of the guardian. It seemed a good solution. Her mom had forbidden them from dating, but if she was a Ranger, then they'd still be able to see one another.

"I cannot go against the wishes of a parent." Zordon explained. "Katherine was positioned as a substitute for the pink Ranger before the Alternate was brought to us, unless there is another choice to which I am unaware, she is the logical choice now."

K watched as the young Kimberly's shoulders slumped and her eyes closed in dismay; remembering all too well the day she was told she'd be leaving the Rangers. Something was amiss, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She looked up at her husband and squelched the annoyance that bubbled up from her stomach. She hadn't wanted him to accompany her, the less he had to do with the Guardians, the happier she'd be; but he'd insisted.

This particular trip was not going to be as straightforward as Thomas had suggested it would be and had landed them both smack in the middle of the same time marker that had been extremely traumatic for them both. The Kimberly of this dimension was being moved and placed in a position to help the future of her timeline nearer another keystone time marker, a critical juncture for the development of her dimension's future, but none of that could be revealed without dramatically affecting the outcome of that future.

This was not going to be a simple assignment; the outcome of the variables were too important. Thomas had handled her own removal from Angel Grove very poorly. He had convinced her to break up with her Tommy and the decade that followed had been a disaster for them both. With a start, she realized that was why he had assigned her to help with this transition rather than take it on himself. He had plans for his little Alternate and he needed to avoid the dangerous rebelliousness he'd created in his first model. Somehow that knowledge didn't help.

She stole a glance at her husband and realized he was also keenly aware of the time period they had landed in. He was already angry with her that she'd accepted Thomas's assignment after swearing to him that she'd take the next few months off and, although he was doing his best to appear ambivalent, was looking extremely uncomfortable and out of sorts with the drama he knew was about to be played out; she doubted he'd be of much help. After quickly mulling over her possibilities, she nodded once to herself, then squared her shoulders.

"Zordon," She began, facing the alternate of her former mentor, "It had been my intention to discuss recent developments and Thomas's proposed solutions with you first, however, given the discord your team finds itself in, may I have permission to speak with your pink Ranger privately first?"

"Of course." The great wizard answered, his curiosity tweaked. The arrival of a dimensional guardian was always a portent to upheaval. The arrival of this particular guardian, given the Alternate's past association with the demon Kemora, was intriguing. His previous intuitions that the mechanism of the Great Power was stirring in his direction appeared acutely accurate.

* * *

Carri was in a blacker mood than she'd seen in ages. All appeals to her father had been in vain. For the first time in years, he actually agreed with her mother; which seemed completely ludicrous. Given her brother's antics in college, her dad seemed to think the idea of instilling discipline in his daughter's life while there was still time to enforce control over her might actually be a good idea. It was revenge, she decided. Pure and simple revenge for blowing the whistle on his fling with the blond bimbo in LA.

The only good thing to happen from the appeal was that her parents were actually communicating again; at least, she thought that was a good thing. After weeks of being absent, he was driving up from LA to spend the weekend with them. At the very least, she'd get to see him, get to beg in person, which was always more effective, and if tears and pleading didn't work, she'd set a spark between him and her mother that, with any luck, would get them fighting so intensely they'd forget about her until after school let out for the summer.

She knew he was opposed to the whole private school deal. He didn't feel that spending thousands of dollars a month had bought her brother all that better of an education any more than sending him to an elite private college had curbed his partying and bad habits. He wanted Carri to learn more responsibility and have a better sense that it was your work ethic that got you through adulthood, not your money.

Carri got it, it was just that no one seemed to appreciate that she got it. Transferring to Stone Canyon High after years at an elite academy hadn't been easy, nor had being redistricted to Angel Grove High last year, but she was over that transition and really liked where she was. She had real friends who made a real difference in the world; not that she could tell her mom and dad that. She had absolutely no doubt what so ever that if she told her parents she was dating the red Power Ranger, they'd change their minds about him, but she couldn't. She wanted so badly to rub it in her mom's face, but she didn't, and, to her credit, buried the desire deep down so that it didn't fly out when her temper flared.

Her mother had gone on and on about the rundown apartment building Rocky lived in, that both he and his mom had to work two jobs just to make ends-meet, that there was no way the boy could buy her dinner let alone pay her monthly credit card bill, and reminded her that her previous boyfriend had a Porsche and a Mercedes and could take her to any restaurant in any city in the world on his dad's private jet. She couldn't fathom how her daughter didn't think that was a better choice.

Carri hadn't been able to defend Rocky at all. She'd simply sat on her hands and seethed with resentment. Her dad had at least sounded impressed that Rocky worked two jobs and went to school and took care of his siblings, all the while maintaining an A average at school and playing on the baseball team, but it still hadn't helped; she'd been caught having sex just one month shy of her seventeenth Birthday and that was somehow a mortal sin. For the first time in ages he agreed with her mother that she was out of control and needed discipline. Coming from an alcoholic mother and a sex addicted father, it was pretty humorous that they thought she was the one who needed to learn obedience and restraint.

"Are you still brooding?" Her cousin asked, pulling her from her black musings.

Carri looked up as her cousin entered the room and gave her a scowl that she hoped would melt the blond's makeup from her face.

"You can't be mad at me forever Carri." Kat said wearily, flopping down in an overstuffed chair and sighing heavily. She didn't like it when people were angry with her and it upset her that Carri would hold a grudge. As girls, the two had always looked forward to seeing each other, but as teens, they just couldn't seem to find friendly ground. It was disappointing; she had always wanted a sister and Carri was the closest thing she had.

Carri responded by digging her acrylic nails into a throw pillow she'd been hugging and tearing the fringe off it. "I'm forbidden from seeing my boyfriend, the best guy in the entire universe, and I'm being sent away to an all girls school… because of you." She said in a quiet, cold, and deadly voice that gave the other girl shivers.

"Carri…" Kat responded with a world weary sigh, ready to remind the other girl that it was her own behavior that got her in trouble, but Carri scowled at her menacingly and ripped the last of the pillow's fringe violently from its seem, so she decided against it.

"I'm going to roll my hair in my new rollers for school tomorrow." She said instead. "Want me to do yours too?"

The growl that emerged from her cousin's throat was a clear enough answer. She stood and left the room as quickly as possible.

* * *

" I know that this is difficult for you." K said as gently as she could, "But there are more things happening at this juncture than you realize."

"Did your mother make you move too?" Kim asked suddenly. She knew that alternates were different, that they almost never shared the exact same history, but she also knew that K had grown up to marry her Tommy. She had to know if her older version had gone through a similar history and, if she had, how they'd found a way to be together again.

K paused and regarded the girl. They were sitting on a climbing structure in Angel Grove Park and although she knew what she had to do, her heart ached for her younger alternate. She had been separated from her Tommy at this age as well, but unlike her own experience, she wasn't going to insist the girl break all ties and leave her old life behind.

"Yes." She said simply, and the girl's shoulders slumped in frustration.

"But why? I don't understand." Kim replied. "I was brought here…" She paused, remembering that she'd been forbidden by Zordon to talk about her transplantation from another dimension. She had been about to say that she'd been brought to her new world to repair its timeline, because their Kimberly wasn't supposed to die and Kemora had interfered with that. Thomas had said that without her, the future would spiral out of control, she didn't understand why she was now being taken away.

K nodded, honestly sympathetic to the girl, and also understanding what she'd left unsaid. "You've done a good job here Kimberly." She said tenderly. "But you also have to understand that your presence has a direct effect no matter where you are; whether you're an active Ranger here or not. It's your participation in this world that effects its future, not just your participation with the Rangers."

"Tommy and I have plans." Kim argued miserably, still hoping there was some way to avoid the inevitable. "This is going to ruin everything."

K smiled at the girl, remembering the young plans she had-had with her Tommy. Things hadn't happened as they'd intended, and for a while life had been rather painful, but eventually they'd worked it out.

"Nothing between you and Tommy is ruined unless you let it be ruined." She answered gently, laying a sympathetic hand on the girl's arm. "You're being moved in different directions for a while, you haven't stopped loving each other. Real love exists and carries on, no matter what the boundaries."

"But Katherine…" Kim paused and pressed her lips tightly together, looking away.

"Katherine Hillard had recovered from Rita's spell and will make a very good pink Ranger." K said softly. "You'll see Kimberly, things will work out."

She watched carefully as the girl visibly struggled with her emotions. There was more going on than simply being separated from her boyfriend. She knew that this alternate was unusual; she came from a known dark dimension and had been placed in an opposite universe. To complicate matters, she'd been possessed by the demon Kemora for an extraordinarily long time.

Kemora was a former Kimberly who had been sacrificed to the demon Maligore by Divatox. She had been reborn his spawn of evil and, unlike herself, never brought back to the side of good. Eventually, after years of battling with her, her body had been destroyed, but not the ability to possess others. She purposely sought out alternate Kimberlys, took control of their bodies, and then took her revenge on the Mighty Morphin and Turbo teams she encountered.

Almost all of the Kimberlys possessed, died from the massive energy drain they endured, but the Alternate had survived. However, it was now known that Kemora's possession of the girl had left behind cells charged with Muirantian energy; cells which were slowly taking over the human cells of her young body and altering them just as surely as if she'd been thrown into the fires of Maligore's volcano. Even Primus was concerned the girl needed to be trained how to handle the metamorphosis that was taking her over before the forces of evil realized what she was. She needed to be anchored to the side of good; quickly. Although K herself disagreed, it had been decided that training needed to take place far away from Earth.

"Are you pregnant?" K asked seriously, watching her closely as she voiced one of Thomas's primary concerns. The girl's eyes widened and she blushed deeply.

"No." She answered, shaking her head for emphasis, "Definitely not, we've been really careful."

K relaxed a little. Thomas had been adamant she reach the girl before the two tried to thwart the parental authority in their lives by prematurely starting a family. Some Kimberlys did, and it usually worked out, but Thomas and Primus had plans for the girl that didn't immediately include children.

"Make sure you stay careful." She advised and the girl nodded silently, not looking at her. "You know that morphing sometimes negates the pill right?" K asked, and the girl turned to her in wide eyed horror. She grimaced and added, "Do you need to talk about how to be more careful?"

Kim blushed a deeper shade of red, but shook her head. Her mom might be on her hit list right now, but one of the benefits of being honest with her was that they were able to have really good conversations about things that might have otherwise gone unsaid. She knew exactly what they needed to do, but that thought only reminded her that soon they'd be separated and it wouldn't matter anyway. The thought started her stomach churning and the anxiety once again simultaneously made her heart pound in fear and ache in sorrow. It couldn't end like this, she'd come too far to lose it all again now.

"You want to tell me what you're so frightened of?" K asked gently, watching the girl's reaction. She had a pretty good idea, but years of experience had taught her to sit back and let the girl speak for herself.

"I'm not allowed to talk about it." She responded quietly. Zordon had forbidden her from ever mentioning it. Rita was always spying on them with her telescope, if she ever overheard, if she or Zedd ever suspected she was a replacement, they would be within their rights to cry foul and she would be taken away and returned to her own world. As that world was dead, consumed by the forces of evil, she would, of course, die immediately if left there.

"Ah…" K answered, nodding in understanding. She reached into her jacket pocket and retrieved a small triangular device. Showing it to the girl, she activated it and they watched as it began to spin and lift itself into the air; emitting a soft, high pitched whine.

Kim smiled softly, recognizing the device as one that Thomas used on his rare visits. It would prevent anyone from eavesdropping or even reading their lips while they spoke. Taking a deep breath, she thought about where she wanted to start, then realized there really wasn't a good place.

"Before Kemora came, I had the hugest, most massive crush on the Tommy of my home world." She admitted, speaking softly despite the fact that she knew the device would keep their conversation private. When K nodded, she continued, "But he just saw me as a friend…a teammate."

The Tommy on her home world had been obsessed with Katherine Hillard from the very beginning. The pretty blond had also suffered Rita's evil spell and the two had bonded almost immediately; feeling no one but each other truly understood what they had experienced. Any hopes that she might have had to turn his attentions towards her were quickly dashed. He had made it very clear that he enjoyed working with her as a Ranger and having her as a friend, but that there was no comparison to the way he felt toward the Australian exchange student.

"So you're worried that if Katherine Hillard takes your power coin, she'll also take your place with the Tommy of this world?" K asked, although she already knew the answer.

"What happened on your world?" Kim asked earnestly. She knew that K had married her Tommy, maybe she could also tell her how they'd managed to stay together. "I've seen so many worlds with Thomas where the Tommy was in love with the Katherine and only just you that actually grew up to marry him. Is he supposed to be with her? Am I just changing the future to be selfish because I so desperately want him to love me and I want to keep him for myself?"

K blanched, unprepared for the question and wondering what Thomas had already told the girl. That was exactly what he had told her at that age; that holding on to her Tommy was simply selfishness on her part. She had also been led to believe that her association with Tommy would be fatal, that if she stayed with him, Kemora would eventually find them together and kill him. It wasn't exactly true, there were many, many worlds where the Kimberly and Tommy stayed together successfully and never encountered Kemora, but the little Alternate would have no experience with those. She would have only travelled to the worlds that Thomas worked on, the ones where the Kimberly had been killed by the demon and the timeline needed repairing. Of course she would have only seen a Tommy and a Katherine together; the Kimberlys no longer existed on those worlds.

Years before, Thomas had separated her from her Tommy for the same reasons the Alternate was being separated; they needed her to become something different than a simple ranger. That breakup had badly affected her though. Tommy had run straight into Kat Hillard's waiting arms and she just assumed Thomas had been right, that Tommy was supposed to be with the other girl. It had been years before she'd learned the truth, but by then it was too late; he was in love again and she was alone. That the relationship had been a disaster and hadn't survived for very long once the Australian had returned from her dance studies in London was of very little comfort; she had become very bitter about it.

She and her Tommy had managed to serve as Rangers together on a few occasions over the years that followed, but not without bickering contentiously. She had married someone else and divorced, he had sworn off relationships and buried himself in his work as a master Ranger. Eventually, they had made their peace and settled the sour feelings between them, but it hadn't been an easy road back. Even though both considered themselves very much in love again and very happily married, they still bickered over almost everything. She was constantly frustrated by his overwhelming desire that they be completely involved in all aspects of each other's lives and his uneasyness that she would either leave or be taken from him.

"Maybe I shouldn't have asked." The Alternate mumbled when K didn't respond.

"No, it's not that." She answered, drawing her thoughts back to the task at hand. "Thomas only works on worlds where the Kimberly has been killed, usually by Kemora. You've only traveled interdimensionally with him, so you wouldn't have seen a Tommy with anyone else."

"So I'm not changing the future of things if I keep him?" She asked cautiously, hope punctuating the words.

"No, not at all." K answered, a soft smile forming at the corners of her mouth at the idea that anyone could 'keep' a Tommy. "There's a forty percent chance on any given world that the Tommy will be with a Kim or Katherine, about a fifty percent chance he'll have moved on and be by himself, and another ten percent will find him with someone completely different."

"Really?" The Alternate asked, curious despite herself. "Like who?"

K smiled, an impish twinkle finding its way back in her eyes. "You wouldn't believe the combinations I've seen." She answered, grinning conspiratorially. "It doesn't matter though, perhaps someday you'll experience them for yourself."

"I wish you'd tell me." Kim replied, eyes turning mischievous and smiling as her mood lightened.

"Not now." K said, thinking of a recent dimension where the Tommy had been a very odd variant. She considered herself beyond the point where anything regarding the timelines could shock her, but that one definitely had. She hadn't even been able to bring herself to confide in her husband about that one, let alone document it for the guardians. "Perhaps later though. Right now, we need to get you through this point in time."

The Alternate sobered at her words, mood deflating again. "I don't want to go." She mumbled, but far from defiantly. She placed her hands back in her lap and began worrying her thumbs together; slowly chipping and flicking away little pieces of bright pink nail polish across her lap and onto the wooden surface of the structure.

"I know you don't, I didn't either, but it's necessary right now." K said tenderly.

"Why?" Kim asked, with all the pain in her breaking heart. "Life just started to get good, why do I have to leave now?"

"Do you remember Dulcea?" K asked patiently, watching the girl's reaction.

Kim nodded, a little smile coming to her lips. She'd actually encountered two Dulceas, one with her original team and the other with the team she was with now. She'd loved Phaedos. Walking the stone covered beach there was as close to a feeling of coming home as she'd ever known.

"Dulcea has taken an interest in you. She's asked to train you to be a warrior of Phaedos, perhaps to even train you in the old ways of the Order of Meledon, the ways Zordon himself once learned." She added. "Would you like that?"

Kim's eyes widened as she turned to face the older version of herself. "But I'm supposed to go to Paris." She countered.

"Time is never what it seems." K responded cryptically. "You'll attend boarding school during the day, then travel by time arc at night. What is only five or six hours Paris time will be about a week or so on Phaedos. No one will have any reason to suspect you aren't in your room sleeping."

"But if I'm not sleeping in my room, when will I sleep?" Kim asked, then realized that was probably a dumb question.

"You'll rest before you travel back." K answered with a smile. "This is necessary Kimberly. You can't escape the legacy Kemora left you. You need to have a clear understanding of who you are, what you want for your life, and what you're becoming."

Kim looked down at her swinging feet and worried her hands nervously. She'd been very careful to hide the odd changes she was experiencing, but apparently she hadn't been as careful as she thought if K knew about them. "I'll do anything to avoid becoming like her." She said quietly. "Is there no hope for me then? Zordon can't reverse the mutations somehow?"

"No." K answered simply, remembering all too well the day she realized she and her Jason couldn't stop the inevitable. "Zordon can only help you slow it down, the outcome is unavoidable."

"But what if I can't control it? What if I turn evil like she is?" Kim asked apprehensively. It was one of her greatest fears. She remembered all too well what it had been like to have the demon possess her; to watch helplessly as she slaughtered hundreds of innocents, to experience that insatiable thirst for blood and revenge.

"Did you know that Kemora and I are the same creature?" K asked seriously, watching carefully as the girl turned to regard her. She wasn't sure what Thomas had told her and what he hadn't. "Both of us were sacrificed to the demon Maligore by a villain named Divatox, both of us were lowered into his pit of molten lava, both of us died and were reborn his spawns of evil."

"But you're not evil." The girl answered, considering for the first time that the changes within her own body might not be a death sentence after all.

"No." K answered, smiling softly at her. "My Tommy still loved me. His heart broke when he saw what had happened to me, that he was too late to save me, and he reached out with everything in his soul to bring me back. Kemora wasn't that lucky, her Tommy's heart belonged to someone else. There was no one to save her, to stop her. The love of friendship wasn't enough. She killed him and with that death any hope that she might turn."

"My Tommy loves me too." The Alternate whispered, somehow very sorry for Kemora. She'd felt that rejection too once. Once upon a time, she'd been the one Tommy didn't want. She understood the disappointment and the hurt of loving someone who loved someone else and realized how lucky she was that she'd been transplanted to a world where she'd found someone who loved her with all his heart.

"Yes and he will continue to love you even though you have to be separated for a while." K said softly, omitting that the girl had been specifically transplanted and given to a Tommy who would love her in an effort to help her avoid Kemora's fate. "And I think he'll agree that it's better you go away for a little while so you can learn how to protect yourself and those around you."

"But if I'm only going to travel by time-arc at night, why do I have to go half way across the world? Why can't I stay in Angel Grove?"

K sighed heavily as she watched the gentle rustle of the trees of Angel Grove Park swaying with the wind. How much was too much to tell the girl? She'd find out soon enough. If Thomas was grooming her to be a dimensional guardian, which he'd be a fool not to, then she'd become well acquainted with her timeline and the variations that existed. She wasn't a normal Kimberly and she'd never live a normal, quiet life that many Kimberlys enjoyed. It would be much simpler to say that it was safer, that she'd be a danger to those around her while she trained, but that wasn't exactly the whole truth and wouldn't wash with her for very long.

"How much work did you do with Thomas before you came here?" She asked, turning back to the girl. "How familiar are you with the time markers of this period?"

Kim paused, hesitant to say. What had seemed like an eternity of wandering, visiting world after world, couldn't really have been all that long. "I'm not sure." She answered truthfully, frowning a little as she thought. "I know we dealt mostly with Turbo Rangers. Sometimes Tommy and the others were there, sometimes it was different kids that I didn't know."

K nodded in understanding. Early Turbo was the period most closely associated with Divatox and the one Kemora primarily targeted. "There's a preliminary marker into Turbo."

"Zeo." Kim answered and again K nodded, relaxing a little as she realized she really wouldn't be giving much of the girl's possible future away. The Zeo crystal was the reason she was being moved. Primus wanted her far away from it while it was still in the hands of Master Vile. The crystal was known to be sentient and would not only pick up that she was an alternate, but could also reveal her Muirantian markers inherited from Kemora.

"This team is transitioning out of the coin era." K said, carefully choosing her words and trying to use as few as possible, yet still give the girl a clear understanding of why she was being moved. Perhaps if Thomas had been as honest with her, then her own transition would have been easier, maybe things would have settled in her life sooner. "The Zeo crystal in your dimension is currently in the hands of Rita's father, Master Vile." She began. "All sources indicate he is on his way to Earth with it. If you are front and center as one of Zordon's Rangers, the crystal, while in the hands of evil, could inform him that there is Muirantian energy in you. It would make you very attractive to Vile. He might try and capture you in an attempt to mold your developing powers for his own use and that's a danger that can't be risked."

Kim nodded in understanding, shuddering a little. She'd already been possessed by Kemora and kidnapped by Zedd. She was done with falling into the clutches of evil and would be very much on guard now that Kim had warned her of Rita's father. "But the Zeo crystal powers the Zeo Rangers. We have to get it back right?"

"If that's the destiny of this team, then yes." Kim answered frankly. "In most timelines it's broken apart to keep it safe from the forces of evil. The shards are separated and each Ranger sends it back into earth's past to one of their ancestors who will keep it safe until needed again." She paused a moment before adding, "It's complicated, but from there, the main pattern usually seems to dictate that either the team will bridge directly to Turbo, or Zordon might turn around and send the Rangers right back into the past to retrieve the crystal."

"My ancestors aren't on this world." Kim mumbled, beginning to realize where K was going.

"Well, they are." She replied with a little smile. "You are biologically very much a descendant of your line Kimberly, but your intuition is correct, the pink Zeo crystal usually goes to someone in Australia just after World War two." She explained.

It was mostly true anyway. The truth was that the Zeo crystal in their universe wouldn't find its way back in time until if and when their Tommy managed to break it into pieces with Saba. If this Kimberly stayed in place, the pink shard would most likely go to her family. Everything depended on who was present on the team when Master Vile showed up with it; which would be pretty soon… but it really didn't matter.

"Katherine." Kim sighed, knowing suddenly and without a shadow of a doubt that there was no way she'd be able to stay.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, she had an insight that most Kimberlys didn't. Because of her travels with Thomas, she understood what K was talking about. She understood time markers and also understood very clearly that she was not associated with the one that was coming up. K said that the broken Zeo crystal needed to be sent into the past even though the Rangers might end up turning around and going right back after it. That strongly suggested that the crystals were needed for something specific in Earth's past. Each would go to a specific place and juncture to perform some critical function that would keep the timeline moving forward in the direction it needed to go so that their present remained intact.

"They need Katherine, not me." She repeated.

"Or Carri." K added, nodding. "They have the same paternal grandmother, who was a known associate of Zordon. I know I've been able to repair a timeline by adding Carri in as a pink and I know someone else who recently did it successfully too." She supplied. "Mostly it's just that the Kimberlys aren't around past the coin era, so Katherine's line is a logical choice."

"Is that because they die?" The Alternate asked, thinking of Kemora.

"That or they chose differently. Many become famous gymnasts, some stay rooted to Tommy and whatever team he's associated with, some simply move on to other things, some grow too strong to be comfortable in pink and serve as reds on other worlds…and a few get pregnant in high school." She added with a grin.

Kim grinned back, but the smile faded slowly from her eyes and was eventually replaced with a sad look of wistful regret. The book had already been written. She was a patch for this world's timeline, but the patch appeared temporary at best. K was right, she needed Dulcea's help; she needed to go…it was an honor to be chosen to go. Now would be a time of transition regardless. The team was moving beyond simple coins and Ninjetti trickery. She didn't know the villains K talked about, but she knew the future was always changing and she assumed the threat to peace and goodness would as well.

"I'll go." She whispered, hugging her knees to her chest and rocking slightly back and forth with the enormity of what she was agreeing to.

"I know." K returned just as quietly.


	4. Chapter 4: Pink By Proxy

Power Rangers: The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning

Chapter 4: Pink By Proxy

_Disclaimer: The Power Rangers belong to Disney. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks for the loan of such a fabulous character. Everything else is from my imagination._

_For more stories about Carri, check out KJ's Ranger Scrolls and Legacy series._

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* * *

_

Tommy leaned his chin down on his arms, which were folded on the edge of the Command Center's main consol; eyes lifting up to watch his older alternate pace back and forth. He didn't have much more time to wait for Kim to return. If she didn't show up soon, he'd be in danger of breaking curfew. His mom was pretty lenient with his freedoms, but he couldn't abuse it. The minute he did she'd restrict him again, like the days following his tenure as Rita's evil green, and he couldn't risk that.

Everyone else had left the room, leaving them alone in an uncomfortable silence. He really never thought about getting old, but watching the man who looked so much like himself, he wondered about it.

He kind of liked the shorter hair, but not so much he wanted to race out and cut his own. The style was a little odd, but kind of cool at the same time. He liked the older version's clothes and he liked the way his muscles had filled him out. Perhaps there was hope, he thought wryly, that his own legs and arms wouldn't always be so lanky. The lines on the other man's face, however, he could honestly pass on. There was worry written deeply on his brow; as well as fatigue.

He sort of understood what an alternate was. He knew that the man before him was more like a twin; sharing the same DNA, but different development. Alternates had different life experiences and very often different personalities; like his girlfriend. Kim wasn't anything like the Kimberly she'd replaced. You'd think she would be, expected her to be, but she wasn't.

He watched silently as the older man paced; wondering how different he was. He looked like he had the weight of the universe on his shoulders. The way he moved was as if he'd never stopped fighting; had always been a Ranger. He was on guard, cautious, and overly aware of his surroundings. Would that be how life turned out for him?

His older alternate looked so serious and stern; he couldn't imagine himself that irritable. The man paused and grabbed his arm, his face creasing momentarily with pain. Tommy frowned at him, wondering if he was sick.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his own forehead creasing in a frown to mirror the other man's.

"Fine." He answered absently, not looking at him, and again he wondered about him.

"When we came to your world, you were really sick." Tommy added, although he wasn't really sure why. "K was really worried about you."

The older Tommy stopped his pacing and turned to regard the boy leaning against the consol. He didn't want to. Alternates in and of themselves didn't bother him. He didn't encounter them on a regular basis like his wife did, but he'd seen two or three in his lifetime.

It wasn't the boy that bothered him. It was like looking through a time portal to a past that he could smile wistfully at. Despite everything that had happened to him, he could honestly look back on his high school years and smile. He'd been a Ranger, Zordon had still been alive, school had been a pain, but also fun; life had been good.

The problem was that he was acutely aware of the strife the boy was about to experience by losing his girlfriend. Losing his own Kimberly had sent him into a deep depression. It had been his first real experience with rejection; his first broken heart. He hadn't understood, his confidence had been severely shaken, and the painful ache of it had lingered for years afterwards.

"I'm fine." He answered gruffly, eyes roaming the Command Center and refusing to focus on the boy.

"If you say so." Tommy answered, and a silence descended between them. After a few, long, drawn out minutes where nothing could be heard except the older man's steps on the tiled floor and the odd chirp, beep, or whirl from one of the many computer panels, he added tentatively, "Do you think there's any chance Kim will be able to stay?"

The older man turned and regarded him, eyes seeming to soften a little in commiserative sympathy. "No." He answered plainly.

Tommy's shoulders slumped in response. He hadn't thought so, but he was still holding out hope. "What's going to happen?" He asked, although he really didn't think he'd get an answer.

"Depends on you." The older man responded.

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked, sitting up in his chair and regarding him curiously.

The other man shrugged uncomfortably, as if hesitant or concerned he'd said something he shouldn't. "No matter what happens, no matter what you hear, no matter what you think is going on, always make her explain herself. Make her tell you the facts, not shades of them."

"Why?" Tommy asked hesitantly, but again the older version of himself simply shrugged.

* * *

Kim closed the door to her room and flopped down on her bed, head pounding. K had made her go home and face her mother, which had been uncomfortable to say the least. She wouldn't fight the move, but it made her sick at heart to even contemplate it.

He mother had been really angry and lectured her about running off. Andre had also lectured her about how she'd worried them, which didn't sit well with her at all. She liked him a lot, but not enough that she could sit through him criticizing her and not chaff.

She'd let them talk themselves out, not really listening and letting the words simply rebound off of her; half of them unheard and not really caring what they had to say. When at last a silence had fallen, she'd looked at her mom, told her coldly that a replacement had been found, as she'd wished, then rose and walked out of the room.

She supposed, when she woke up in the morning she'd have another lecture waiting for her, but she didn't care. She wanted desperately not to care about anything, to pout and feel completely sorry for herself, but she couldn't. She was too good a Ranger.

Assured her mom wasn't going to follow her into her room, she rose sluggishly, with a bit of an attitude, and snatched the alarm clock from her nightstand, setting it to several hours earlier than her normal waking time. The new time would only allow her about four hours of sleep, but some was better than none. She'd wake before anyone else and slip out before they could catch her. It was too late to call Tommy at his house now. She knew he'd be home before his curfew, but he'd be up extra early to practice his forms and work out; so she could catch up with him then.

Not bothering with a nightgown, she flopped fully clothed onto the bed and stared at the ceiling; bursting into tears. Life couldn't possibly get worse.

* * *

Carri woke at an ungodly early hour, way before her alarm clock was set to go off. At first, groggy from a heavy sleep, she thought maybe the house was burning down, but then she realized the only sound breaking the stillness of the predawn hour was the baleful wailing of her cousin as she ran down the long hallway past her room. Placing her head back down on her pillow, a slow, wickedly content smile tugged at her lips. Sometimes, revenge made it worth waking up a little early.

* * *

Tommy was more relieved than surprised to find Kim waiting for him on the rocks by his special place in Angel Grove Park. It was the area he in practiced every morning before school and the spot he came to think when he needed time alone. It was also the site he'd first kissed Kim and the quiet corner where the two would sneak off sometimes; just to be alone together.

Without speaking, he set his stuff down and held his arms open for her. She slid off the rock she'd been sitting on and nearly fell into his embrace, pressing herself hard against him and burrowing her face against his chest. They didn't say anything at first, just held one another, but eventually they parted and she looked up at him with mournful eyes that conveyed what he already knew; she was leaving.

"How long do we have?" he asked, taking her hand and leading her back to the rocks to sit.

"Until the end of the week." She replied solemnly.

"That soon?" He asked incredulously. Eyes scanning the horizon frantically in hopes that some kind of an answer would magically drop from the clouds above. There was no time to lobby, to stall, or think of a solution. He had been certain that it would take her mom much longer to pack them up.

"Andre found both Michael and me schools already; we're already enrolled. My dad signed the papers yesterday saying it was ok for mom to move us. She gives up all child support, so he's fine with letting us go. They even have someone interested in renting the house…"

"Sounds like they've been planning this for a while then." He responded dejectedly. "You had no idea?"

She shook her head instead of answering and he scooted closer and wrapped his arm around her. They sat like that for a while as the sun rose higher. Technically, she didn't have to go to school, her mom was pulling her out, but she didn't want to go home and she didn't want to be left alone in the park; besides, when she didn't show up at the breakfast table, her mom would probably call the office to make sure that's where she'd gone.

"It's not forever." Tommy said at last. "We just have to focus on that. In two years, we'll both be eighteen."

"We won't be ready." She returned miserably. "We won't have enough money saved with me not babysitting and working part time this year at Ernie's."

"Yes we will." He answered encouragingly. "Especially if I go to work for my uncle and train as a driver."

She looked up at him hopefully. If anyone could find a way out of a hopeless situation, it was Tommy. He looked determined, resolute, just as he did before leading them into a fight with Zedd. She supposed this was almost like facing a battle. They were scared, demoralized, desperately hoping for a good outcome with all the variables still unknown.

"I'm gonna miss you so much." She said, eyes watering and voice breaking.

His shoulders sank in misery and both arms reached out to pull her onto his lap as she began to genuinely cry. It was as if the wind had been knocked out of his chest. He couldn't think about it, couldn't accept it. They'd get through it, they had to get through it, there was no other option...he just didn't know how.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Carri?" Rocky asked, looking nervously around the lunch room. She hadn't been in the morning class she shared with him and he was slightly panicked that her mom had pulled her out of school entirely. He wanted to see her, to talk to her, to reassure himself that they'd find a way to work things out.

"Kat's not in school today either." Adam piped up, tossing the last of the trash on his tray as he finished. "She wasn't in home room and she wasn't in English."

Kim shrugged morbidly, leaning heavily into Tommy and succumbing to the deep depression that had settled around them both. The two had been physically inseparable every moment they could possibly come together and had already been warned twice by the principle, Mr. Kaplan, to separate or face detention. As detention together didn't exactly sound like a bad thing, they basically ignored him and continued to cling together.

"Maybe they're sick." Adam suggested, but at Rocky's annoyed scowl added, "Or maybe Carri's mom kept them both home."

Kim bunched her eyes tightly together and pressed her head more tightly into Tommy's shoulder. She didn't want to think about Kat Hillard right now. Tommy was next to her and she could feel his warmth and strength seeping into her. She didn't want to think of anything else. She wanted to cling to him and absorb as much a possible while she could. As soon as school was done they were heading to the lake; she didn't even care if there was a monster attack or not. She wanted to be as close as possible to him for as long as they had left; that was all that mattered and all she was going to focus on.

The boys around her, however, turned in unison as a familiar, unwanted, figure approached them. Cherry Pingly was now firmly established as queen bee now that Kim had stepped down as Angel Grove's most popular girl. It didn't mean that Kim couldn't reclaim her status anytime she wanted it, but Kim was not the girl she had replaced as an alternate and was simply too busy Rangering to think about it. Cherry had thrilled to the social rank left her, but the school population's natural tendency to wait for Kim's confirmation on the social pecking order still tweaked at her; not that Kim cared in the least.

"So…" Cherry began in an fake perky voice that made most of the Rangers flinch when they heard it. "Rumor has it that Carri Hillard… has been shipped off to New York." She announced with ill concealed glee.

The obvious delight in the girl's voice made the Rangers cringe in unison, but when she slid down in the empty seat next to Rocky, the intrusion was enough for Kim to detach from Tommy, sit up, and face the girl. Carri was her friend and Cherry…well Cherry wasn't the enemy, but she might as well have been.

"And what would you know about it?" Kim asked, in her best, haughty imitation of the Kimberly she'd replaced. It wasn't too difficult. The other girl's ghost haunted her on a regular basis, so she was familiar enough with her attitudes. It was good enough for all three of the male Rangers present and several of the students at nearby tables to also sit up and take notice.

"Well," Cherry continued, delighted to see a spark of her old friend emerge, "My mom told me that my cousin Rachel told her mom that she talked to Carri's dad's best friend's son… and he said that her dad is actually back in town…drove up from LA last night…and he's totally furious or something with his daughter."

"Really…" Kim crooned in a deadly tone. It was such a perfect acerbic imitation of her predecessor that the Rangers had to blink several times to remind themselves that she was their current teammate.

"Really…" Cherry confirmed enthusiastically. Eyes widening and hand reaching out to touch her old friend. For her, it was simply more confirmation that Kimberly was simply faking her old injuries and amnesia. She didn't know why the other girl would do that, but she was just insecure enough in her new position to keep ingratiating herself with the former school sovereign…just in case. "Her dad hasn't been home since before they left for Europe last summer…something about that actress…you know the blond one that was on his new series this week…anyway, he's home and sources say he agreed that Hillard is, like, totally out of control…as if we haven't been saying that for months? I mean, seriously…she dropped the cheer team, not that I was about to see her on it, she's like so totally angry about life in general, you know? She's just…like…off her rocker of something…and her dad agreed…so they're like sending her to this girls school in New York."

"Thank you for the information." Kim said blandly; then added in a dismissive, haughty tone, "You may go now."

Cherry looked up at Kim, at first pleased, then uncomfortable at the dismissal. Her shoulders twitched a little and her lips pursed. She was, after all, the new leader of the pack this year; junior year, not freshman or sophomore year. It was she who deigned to give others her company and she who did the dismissing, but the high school pecking order was too well ingrained and after a few uncomfortable seconds, she rose obediently. Pausing, she leaned down toward Rocky, exposing the barely hidden cleavage under her tank top. "You know," She added suggestively, "Not all of us are as…prickly…as Hillard."

Rocky's eyes widened and snapped up to meet the other girl's. The queen of the Junior social set was hitting on him? The concept was so alien to him, it was as if Rita herself had-had a change of heart and wanted nothing more than to grow wild flowers and spread peace and tranquility.

Before Carri, he'd been fairly popular. He was a baseball player and fairly active at school, but nothing along the lines of aspiring to date the head cheerleader and social matriarch. He was stunned and more than a little unsure the girl was suggesting what he thought she was possibly suggesting. It was a shocking reality check into the school status of his girlfriend…previous girlfriend…no, he reminded himself, girlfriend…she was still his girlfriend…until further notice anyway. He just had to figure out how to stay with her and not incur the wrath of both sets of parents.

"I'll…uhm…keep that in mind." He tried to reply suavely, but the squeak in his voice gave away his discomfort.

Cherry grinned invitingly. Hillard's boyfriend was cute enough to elevate to one of her minions, she decided. His family wasn't the greatest, but he was very nearly a sports star on the school baseball team; that was enough to work with. The very fact the Carri had wanted him was more than enough fodder for her to move in on him herself.

Carri had been queen bee at Stone Canyon before redistricting had brought her to Angel Grove High to collide head first with Kimberly. Cherry's pack had taken a distinct delight in dethroning her, but it would be the absolute sweetest victory to take her boyfriend. Any amusing talents he might have would simply be a bonus.

She turned and walked away regally, hips swaying and pulling up her tight miniskirt far higher than school regulation allowed. She didn't permit herself to look back, there was no need. Hillard was gone and Kimberly was content to let her rule in her place. She was on top and didn't need to put out any more effort than was necessary.

Kim's far too rough slap on his arm brought Rocky back to reality. "You are so not going to move in on that." She rasped waspishly, anger obviously flaring on her face.

"Of course not." He defended, slightly wounded that she would accuse him, but also slightly guilty because he had, secretly, allowed himself to consider it.

"Do you think there's any truth in what she said?" Adam asked uncertainly, "That Carri's been sent away? What if Kat's been sent away too? What would we do?"

"I don't know." Tommy answered, looking at his girlfriend. Her perfect lapse into the image of the old Kimberly surprised him and he was more than a little caught off guard by it. "I think maybe we should go over to her house after school and find out."

Kim frowned at his remark and he could have sworn her heard her growl slightly, but the bell rang interrupting them. They divided reluctantly, all filing out in different directions. For the rest of the day, they'd all be separated and would have to regroup after classes ended.

* * *

Kim and Tommy were ushered in through the large foyer by a butler in a long tailed tuxedo, both nervously glancing at the large chandeliers and thickly gilt framed artwork that seemed to belong more in a museum than a private home. It was more like a movie scene than real life and the glances they exchanged between them seemed to confirm that they both thought it was a bit strange. Kim had been to Carri's house several times, but they'd always come through the back door into the rec room and never through the front. The front rooms were off limits to the kids and neither of them had-had any interest in them anyway.

As they walked through the formal rooms and back into a section of the house she was more familiar with, she clung to her boyfriend, one hand firmly clasped in his, her free arm also wrapped protectively around his elbow. It was an awkward way to walk, but they had only a few days left together and walking with him through the posh atmosphere of Carri's mother's domain was like escorting him straight into the arms of Katherine Hillard. She felt like she had to hang on to him for dear life and she wasn't about to let reason get in the way of clinging to him.

If Tommy was at all perturbed by his girlfriend's odd behavior, he didn't show it externally. He liked the way she hung on to him; liked the feeling of having her close. Internally, he didn't want to be making a social call either. He wanted to whisk her away to the secluded spot they'd found at the lake and hold her as long as humanly possible before their curfews demanded they return home.

"Miss Katherine will be with you momentarily." The Butler said formally as they entered a large, two story, open family room that Kim was more familiar with.

"And Carri?" Kim asked as he turned to leave. She had specifically asked to see both girls.

"I'm afraid the other Miss Hillard is currently unavailable to receive visitors." He answered simply. Then, with a curt nod, he turned and resumed his duties in the front of the house.

Tommy and Kim exchanged mutual looks that conveyed both worry and a general sense of apprehension, but neither said anything out loud. Instead, they took a seat on the sofa, Kim sliding in as close as possible and leaning her head against his shoulder. They sat there for an usually long time, content to simply be alone together in the silence of the room, until Kim finally sat up and gave her boyfriend a look which was meant to silently ask if he thought anyone was coming.

"Here we are…" Carri's mother announced cheerily, just as Tommy was about to suggest they leave and head to the lake as they'd originally planned. She glided into the room regally, gently pushing a reluctant Katherine in front of her.

Kim blinked several times, hardly recognizing the girl, and Kat shifted nervously, cheeks coloring a bright pink. It was bad enough that Kimberly had chosen today for a visit, but she'd brought Tommy with her and that was simply more than she could bare at the moment.

Kat had always possessed beautiful, long, light blonde hair that she kept softly curled and styled in the latest fashion. Combined with her sweet nature and huge blue eyes, she was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful girl's at school and she felt, right or wrong, that her hair played a large part of that. It made her confident. She knew how to style it to convey her mood, she could flirt with it by wrapping little tendrils around her finger and look coyly from behind her long bangs, or she could shift it forward and hide her face behind it if she was nervous or unsure. But all of that beautiful hair was now missing. The length had been cut to less than an inch all over her head and, although the style suited her, in an odd sort of way, it made her look very different.

"Why don't we all have a seat so we can visit." Carri's mom suggested, pushing Kat forward and gesturing for the two teens to re-take their position on the opposite sofa. "Kimberly, can we offer you two something to drink? A soft drink or juice?"

Kim shook her head slightly and uttered a polite, "No thank you." But continued to stare at Kat's nearly bald head. "Uhm," She continued a little nervously, "Carri and Kat weren't in school today. We were hoping they weren't sick…or something…"

"Oh no, we're all doing very well." The older woman answered airily. "I took the girls down to LA early this morning to get their hair cut. We've only just returned."

"It looks very nice." Kim offered hesitantly. It really did. She would have never pegged Kat as looking good with really short hair, but she did. The other girl, however, didn't seem overly pleased with her new style. "You look really different…more mature." She added honestly.

"You see Katherine?" Carri's mom responded encouragingly, "More mature… I told you the same thing myself. It's just the thing for a nearly seventeen year old. Very hip and modern."

"I like it." Tommy piped up and Kat's eyes instantly lifted from her toes to his face, a deep blush coloring her cheeks. "It suits you Kat." He added. "I mean, I don't know many girls that could pull it off nearly as well."

Kimberly didn't miss the pleased, shy smile that bloomed across the other girl's face, nor the way she batted her eyes in appreciation at her boyfriend. It was all she could do not to turn and smack him, but she understood what he was doing. Kat was obviously uncomfortable and he was trying to make her feel better. The problem was, she really did look good. The new hair was different, but it made her eyes impossibly wider and more beautiful than ever. She really did look older and more mature…and Kim was leaving her boyfriend in a position to admire her on a daily basis.

"What gave you the idea to cut it?" She asked, trying to divert the other girl's attention away from Tommy.

It worked instantly. Kat's shoulders stiffened and she looked down at her twisting hands, her breathing noticeably more stressed. "I…" She began softly in a hesitant tone, "I donated it to make a wig for a little girl with cancer." She said shyly.

It was the truth, after a fashion. Nothing could be done to restore the locks of hair her cousin had shaved off her head when she was sleeping, so she'd tearfully agreed to have the rest of her head cut to a matching length and tearfully handed over the whole mass of it to a local charity in LA.

"That's awesome Kat." Tommy responded, genuinely impressed. "What an incredible thing to do."

Kat blushed again prettily, coyly raising her eyes back up to the boy she had a massive crush on. "Do you really think so?" She asked. "I mean, you don't think the other kids at school will tease me about it?"

"No, not at all." Tommy answered. "I think you did a wonderful thing and when everyone finds out why, maybe you can even inspire some of the other girls at school to do the same thing."

"Do you think so?" Kat asked again hopefully, brightening a little at the praise and the idea of being able to do some good. She really had liked the idea of donating her hair to a child in need, even if she hadn't been expecting to do it. Perhaps Tommy was right and she could start a trend that would really help other children as well.

"I do." Tommy answered, smiling at her, and Kim silently gnashed her teeth.

"Did Carri get her hair cut too?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Yes." Kat answered tightly, her demeanor turning almost instantly icy. "But her hair's been bleached and re-colored, so it couldn't be donated."

"That was still nice of her to cut it at the same time to support you." Tommy offered, but Kat didn't reply.

There hadn't been any sympathy or support involved. Carri's dad had forced his daughter to cut her hair too; despite the protests of her mother. Carri had howled and raged like never before, but her hair had been shaved off too, to the exact same length; it had been very sweet revenge for a very mean trick. Neither girl was currently speaking to the other and neither had any plans to in the future either.

"Is Carri home?" Kim asked, wondering if she'd stayed in LA or if she'd been taken directly to LAX and put on a plane for New York."

"Carri is going to be going back to New York on Friday." Her mother answered coolly. "A cousin of mine has arranged for her to attend a girl's boarding school upstate. I'm afraid she's busy shopping for the cooler weather and packing her things."

"Oh." Kim replied, not really sure what to say. She looked over at Kat, and the girl gave her an uncomfortable look back.

In truth, Kat honestly wasn't overly thrilled Carri was going away. She was furious with her for several reasons, and on several levels, but it was going to be strange living in her aunt's house without her cousin there. There was also the possibility that her Aunt would be moving back to New York City now that both Josh and Carri were on the east coast. She didn't know what she'd do then. Also looming was a very real possibility that she'd be sent back home to Australia anyway now that she wasn't needed as a companion for Carri, and going home to her old, boring existence on her dad's ranch after living the high life with her uncle's family wasn't exactly appealing.

"I'm also going to boarding school at the end of the week." Kim added softly after a few moments of silence; earning wide eyed, startled looks from both Katherine and her Aunt.

"Is that so?" Carri's mother replied curiously. The Hart's were a good, very well established family, but she knew Kimberly's branch hadn't exactly distinguished themselves. Kimberly's mother, was also from old Angel Grove society and, despite some serious setbacks, had managed to shake off her husband and reemerge recently on the social pages with a very famous artist.

"Mom's going to marry Andre." Kim replied, nodding her head self consciously. The purpose of their visit had been to invite Kat to the Command Center and offer her the pink power coin. It was a little difficult with Carri's mom sitting between them, but the deed had to be done and she supposed if she could find a way to get Kat out of the house, she could talk a little more openly about it. "We're uhm.." She stuttered uncharacteristically, wrapping her arms tighter around Tommy's arm. "We're moving to Paris and Andre has arranged for me to go to the same boarding school his girls go to."

"What?" Kat gasped in genuine surprise. She felt for Kim, she honestly did. The other girl didn't look any happier about going than her cousin did and she knew firsthand how scary it was to pick up and be the new girl in a strange country, but, on the other hand, that would definitely remove one very handsome white Ranger from his girlfriend. That thought, however, brought another realization. "But what about…uhm…" She hesitated uncertainly, she couldn't very well bring up the Rangers with her Aunt there. "…your…commitments?" She finished cautiously.

"Well…" Kim answered, equally hesitant and uncomfortable, her fingers pressing painfully into Tommy's arm for support. "I uhm, I need to find someone who'd be…uhm…interested in the same kind of…volunteer work …to…sort of…well, uhm, step in for me…sort of…" She finished in a nervous rush.

"And you came over to see Carri." Kat finished bitterly, realizing that was the reason for the pair's visit.

"Well.." Tommy interjected tentatively when Kim didn't answer. "If Carri's going to New York…"

"There's an opening?" Kat finished brightly. When Tommy nodded, the other girl's eyes actually began to glow with eagerness and hope.

"Well, it's something we can talk about…I mean…if you'd be interested." He replied.

"Oh yes…" Kat replied breathlessly, eyes beaming as enchantedly as if she were accepting a marriage proposal. For a day that had started out so tragically, life seemed to suddenly be full of endless happiness. Not only was Kimberly leaving her boyfriend to move half way across the world, there appeared to be an opening with the Rangers. Her mind raced with all the possibilities and questions about what she'd have to do to earn the spot. She'd do it. She didn't care what it entailed.

"Which school are you transferring to?" Carri's mother asked curiously, changing the subject. She really wasn't interested in teenage amusements. She'd only entered the room because her niece refused to let anyone see her and she'd promised her brother in law that she'd help his daughter overcome the stigma inflicted by her cousin's latest delinquent act.

She knew all about the famous artist the Kimberly's mother was dating. If she was marrying him, she was not only scoring herself instant fame by association, but very old European money and access to some fairly exclusive European circles as well. She was, frankly, envious. She had approved well enough of her daughter's friendship with the girl, but not enough to include the mother in her social clique. In retrospect, perhaps that was a mistake. She'd been assured that Kimberly's mother had been firmly ousted from Angel Grove society for attaching herself to the black sheep of the Hart family, but it appeared they'd underestimated her desire to climb back up the social ladder and redeem herself.

"I really don't know." Kim answered uncomfortably. She wanted to go. They'd done what they were supposed to. They'd let Kat know she was leaving and found out if she was interested; which she was. It was done and she wanted to leave as quickly as possible before she burst into tears. "It's the school his older two daughters go to about a half an hour or so outside of Paris. They have an American curriculum, but half the day is taught in French."

"It sounds positively charming." Carri's mother replied, absently stroking her chin with her manicured fingertips as she contemplated the possibilities. Her family back east was being decidedly prickly about her sending her daughter to them. Carri had always been a sweet and charming little girl, but her more recent behavior, coupled with her brother Josh's wild partying, had them a little squeamish about her attending school unsupervised in their area. The school she'd decided upon was upstate a ways, closer to her brother, but his own antics didn't necessarily guarantee he'd be able to manage her or handle the problems that were bound to arise. Given the morning's dramatics, Europe was sounding better and better. "Perhaps I could call your mother about it?"

Kim nodded uncomfortably, frowning and not really sure why her friend's mom would ask.

"Is she still at the gallery on Hope Street this week?" The older woman asked.

"Uhm, no." Kim answered, shaking her head. "She's packing for the flight. I think." She added. She really hadn't been listening to them; she'd been too angry and upset. "I know the moving company is coming on Friday to take the things we're shipping and then on Saturday they'll pack and take away the boxes and furniture going to storage."

"I'll catch up with her at home then.' Carri's mom added with a pleasant, if slightly forced smile. "I'm sure Carri has the number?"

* * *

It was more than a half an hour later when Kim and Tommy finally managed to slip out the front door of Carri's home. Kim breathed a huge sigh of relief, glad for an escape from a very uncomfortable situation. They'd agreed to meet with Kat early the next morning before school, answered several more questions from Carri's mom, then stood and insisted they had plans for the afternoon and would be late if they stayed any longer.

As they descended the last of the entry steps, Kim turned and gave Tommy a painful look. "That was fun." She muttered sarcastically. "Kind of like paying a social call at the lunar palace."

Tommy gave her a lopsided smile, then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and kissing her forehead. It didn't seem real. She was still there, warm and soft against him, yet in just a few short days he'd be alone and there would be a new pink Ranger in the Command Center; it was unfathomable.

"Are you frek'n crazy?" Carri's waspish voice demanded angrily, interrupting them.

Kim broke off her embrace with Tommy to turn to her, but stopped and froze as the other girl jumped out from behind Tommy's Jeep. Carri's long dark hair had been cropped every bit as short as her cousin's, but where Kat's soft blond coloring had gently feathered around her face, giving her a wispy style, Carri's dark hair jutted stiffly in all directions, giving her a much harder and edgy look.

It kind of suited her, but it also made her darkly lined, sharp, fiery brown eyes stand out front and center; making her appear very edgy and goth. All that was missing was a little black leather or metal and she would have fit right in with Bulk and Skull; it was unnerving. Even Tommy seemed stunned by the transformation, his eyes rooted to the other girl, forehead knotted, and unable to say anything.

"Wow…" Kim said, for lack of anything better. "Your hair is really…."

"Punked out?" Carri finished caustically. "Yeah, same hair cut doesn't exactly give you the same look on different cousins does it? I'm thinking about spiking what's left of the bangs and bleaching them bright yellow just to freak my mom out even more. It's so frek'n unfair I can't even fathom it."

"What happened?" Kim asked, trying her best not to giggle. Carri's hair actually matched her personality very well, but she didn't dare say it. Her long hair had at least given her a slight illusion of softness, but cut off, it was simply Carri; no holds barred.

"Kat was being all high and mighty so I brought her down a peg." She answered, hand waving dismissively. "She wanted to be all 'let's bury the hatchet and paint our nails together' so I snuck into her room and cut the pretty little pink foam curlers off her pretty little blond empty head."

"You didn't!" Kim exclaimed, hand flying up to cover her mouth. "Carri!"

"What?" The other girl asked unrepentantly; hand on hip, foot tapping in agitation.

"That was so… mean…even for you." She replied. She knew that Carri was mad at her cousin, and she honestly sympathized, but she'd gone a little over the top. She hadn't physically hurt her cousin, but she'd hurt her none the less; simply out of spite.

"Not nearly as mean as offering Kat a spot on the team!" Carri spat, voice nearly breaking and exposing how crushed she was. She didn't just want to be a Ranger, she wanted it with every fiber of her being. It felt as if that was what she'd been born to do and being passed over in favor of her current arch nemesis hurt like crazy. She was devastated and simply didn't know how to handle the emotions coursing through her.

"That's exactly what you were doing." She continued bitterly. "How could you? I've kept your secrets, I've helped you out I dunno how many times. You know how much I…I'm a much better choice. I know it and you know it. That fluffy pink bubble head…."

"You were listening?" Kim asked, interrupting and wondering how she'd been able to eavesdrop undetected.

"Of course I was. I've been grounded until I leave for New York and can't do anything inside the house or out. No friends, no phone, shopping, no credit cards, no TV, no computer…it totally sucks. I saw you guys arrive from my bedroom window and snuck out onto the loft above the family room. I heard the whole thing. How could you?" She demanded.

"Rocky and I both nominated you," Kim replied helplessly, "Tommy even agreed, but you're leaving, just like I am."

Carri froze, realizing her friend was right, then worked her jaw back and forth, arms crossed defensively in front of her; refusing to burst into tears like a milquetoast baby. The past two days had been an absolute nightmare and she simply didn't know how to deal with it. She would have given anything for a chance to work with the Rangers and it burned her to no end that her cousin was being given the opportunity instead of her. She was the one that had helped the Rangers last year, she was the one who'd been captured with Kim; it was her cousin who'd been on Rita's team.

"I'm sorry." Kim said, reaching out and hugging the other girl. She genuinely was. She didn't want to leave Angel Grove anymore than her friend did.

"Yeah, well…" Carri muttered back, struggling with uncharacteristic tears as she leaned against her friend's shoulder. "Life just…sucks…you know that?"

"Yeah." Kim agreed. "I do."

* * *

"It's my coin." Kim said softly, fingering her golden coin longingly one more time before she handed it over to the other girl. "It's linked to my Ninjetti totem spirit, but Zordon says you'll be able to borrow it, that you'll be able to not only morph, but call on my Ninjetti powers as well."

They were standing in the Command Center, barely an hour before school was scheduled to start, the Rangers in various stages of numb shock as they realized the Alternate Kimberly was really leaving them and Katherine trying her absolute best to temper her almost euphoric excitement out of respect for her new team's feelings. It was really happening. She had done her absolute best to atone for the things she had done under Rita's spell the previous year and now she was being rewarded for her efforts. She was going to be the new pink Ranger. She couldn't believe it, it was a dream come true. She was going to get a chance to fight on the side of good…and she'd see Tommy every single day.

"Kimberly's connection to her power coin cannot be completely severed Katherine." Zordon explained. "You must understand that you will possess the morphing power of the pink Power Ranger, but the Ninjetti powers are borrowed. There is a slight possibility that her totem spirit might eventually reject you or Kimberly might even recall it's power back to her."

He was slightly baffled by that. In theory the sword of power that the Rangers had retrieved when Jason, Trini, and Zack left for the Peace Conference should have severed the ties between Kimberly and her coin as well, but that hadn't happened. Technically, Kimberly should have been able to transfer her morphing power as the pink Ranger and disconnect the nontransferable Ninjetti powers, but her Ninjetti totem spirit stubbornly refused to relinquish its bond with the coin. He wondered absently if it was a residual bonding, if somehow the totem was exhibiting some sort of empathic stubbornness born of Kim's own reluctance to relinquish her duties, but he couldn't be sure. He also couldn't be certain that Kimberly's budding Muirantian powers hadn't played a part in the link either, but Kimberly's spirit definitely remained linked to the coin. How that would play out when Kimberly returned to Phaedos and her powers began to grow was yet to be seen, but in the meantime it would benefit his team in that Katherine would have limited Ninjetti powers as well.

Kat nodded in acceptance, barely able to keep her eagerness in check. She really didn't understand it all, but she knew Kimberly was giving up her coin, which would transfer her morphing powers. It made sense that she'd be able to access the ninja like mode too, so she wasn't so sure why everyone was making a big deal about borrowing. Maybe they were trying to make Kim feel better, she really didn't know.

"I understand Zordon." She answered with a bright smile, eyes shining. "I'll make you proud of me, you'll see."

"Your selfless bravery under extraordinary circumstances a few months ago has proven your strength of character Katherine." The old wizard answered patiently. "I believe you will make a fine addition to this team, however, you must listen and learn from your fellow teammates. Their experience and knowledge will serve you well as your training progresses."

Quietly he wasn't as sure of the transfer as he had been only a few days before. The recent visit by the dimensional guardians and the coin's difficulty transferring between the girls bothered him. The spell Rita had used on Katherine was not an easy one to simply shake off. It was born of the girl's own jealousy of Kimberly and her emotional attachment to the team's leader; two factors that appeared, much to his disappointment, to have remained strongly in place. He would have to wait and see. For now though, Katherine would only be pink by proxy.

Tommy had-had enough. He had tried to be the strong leader, to stand supportively in the semi circle behind Kat as she received Kim's coin, but he couldn't. He hadn't cried in ages, but in the quiet of the past few days he had shed tears freely. He would not, under any circumstances, allow anyone to see them, so as his throat clenched and his heart seized and broke apart within his chest, he clamped his jaw shut tightly and moved away; turning his back on them in an unconscious gesture born simply of necessity.

Kat had her back to him and couldn't see it, but Kim did. She gazed mournfully after him, heart breaking not only for him, but for herself. The new tenants had asked to move into her house over the weekend, so everything had been pushed up. The movers were already at her house packing, even as she relinquished her duties as a Ranger, and they would be flying to LA and then Paris within a few hours. Who knew when they would see each other again.

Huge, wet tears spilled rebelliously from her eyes and her fingers and lower lip trembled. The Rangers had been her whole life for as long as she could remember. Her original team had been younger than her current one; she'd been a Ranger far longer than any of them. She had been alone on her old world, with no family to go home to after the battle; the Rangers had been her family, the Command Center her home. She had lost that team at Kemora's hands, found a new one, and was now being forced to move on once again. It was like being violently sucked into a black hole, not knowing what awaited her on the other side. She didn't know how not to be a Ranger. What would become of her?

It was overwhelming. She was once again lost and alone; facing a future that was every bit as uncertain as the day Thomas had saved her…the sole survivor of a dead world. That's what she was, a displaced survivor, nothing more. She wasn't the real Kimberly of this world, she reminded herself, she was the Alternate. She was a patch, a quick fix that wasn't needed now and as such was being removed. That was her destiny and she would follow it, but it broke her heart.

Keeping her eyes on the gleaming golden coin that had been the focus of her existence for so long, she slowly pushed it forward and gently laid it, with trembling hands, into the palm of the expectant girl before her. Kat beamed joyously as the coin was transferred, but Kim didn't see it. She watched helplessly as the other girl's fingers closed around it; blocking it from view and closing forever her final chapter with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.


	5. Chapter 5: The New Girl

Power Rangers: The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning

Chapter 5: The New Girl

_Disclaimer: The Power Rangers belong to SABAN again! All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks for the loan of such a fabulous character. Everything else is from my imagination._

* * *

Kim dropped her duffle bag in the doorway and surveyed the moderately sized dorm room with an exaggerated sigh. There wasn't much she could complain about, the two hundred year old stone building was ancient by American standards, but the room she'd been given had new drywall and was only a few steps from the communal bathroom. It was a long and narrow T shape that sported two small study desks side by side near the door and dead ended in a set of bunk beds that had seen better days, but certainly wasn't antique. Above the desks was a large, old fashioned, metal lined window that was propped open, allowing a slight breeze into the room which toyed with the thin cotton curtains attempting to hide the hole-like closet opposite. Using her foot to unceremoniously shove the duffle further inward, she allowed the heavy door of the room to thud closed behind her like the iron bars of a cell clanking into place and sealing her destiny.

Ironically, the room was on the top floor of the aged, European structure that was to be her home for the rest of her high school days and it was easy to stare outside the thick, stone lined window and imagine herself the distressed princess locked in a tower of doom. If only, she thought wryly, she could entice a certain white knight in shining armor to ride to her rescue on his gallant steed…or maybe even a Tigerzord. The thought of Tommy's massive old zord thundering across campus at top speed to rescue her brought a smile to her lips and she giggled a little at the absurdity of it all before the tears welled up in her eyes again.

It was better than Andre's flat in downtown Paris, she reminded herself sternly. The large apartment was an excellent match for an artist needing a downtown studio to crash in, but it wasn't set up for children; let alone Americans teens used to their own space. There was only one real bedroom and only one bath, with a small room off to the side that his three daughters shared when they visited him, but that was really no more than a corner walled off by portable screens and nothing that she and Michael could share on a regular basis. They had been there less than twenty-four hours before all of them realized other arrangements would need to be made.

Those arrangements, unfortunately for the kids, were their early departures into the dorms of their respective schools. At least she had known that she'd be boarding alongside Andre's other children, but Michael had expected to stay home and be a day student. His forced incarceration had been met with a huge dose of twelve year old pre-teen male angst and loud, uncharacteristically black moods that had literally brought their mother to tears.

She understood, she really did. There was nothing she wanted more than to be able to scream and yell and kick things around like he had, to proclaim to the entire neighborhood in a screeching voice that their mother was out to ruin her life, but she couldn't do it. Her mother was already upset and hormonal with the move and her pregnancy and Michael's arguments had been loud traumatic enough for all of them.

She was a Ranger, even if she'd relinquished her coin and couldn't morph anymore, and she'd behave like a Ranger. Her beloved mentor would have been appalled if she'd allowed herself to act poorly and Zordon was the one being in the universe she couldn't bring herself to disappoint.

Leaning her back against the heavy door to her room, she surveyed her new home with a grim look. It wasn't bad at all, it just wasn't her room in Angel Grove. A few curtains, a colorful bedspread, a lamp on the desk…it was certainly better than the store room in the Command Center she'd lived in on her own world.

That last thought caught her off guard and she froze with the realization of it. She almost never thought about her old world; it was like a bad dream that had been forgotten with the morning's alarm clock. Things had been much worse there; she'd been far more alone and vulnerable. The memories that flooded through her mind, of friends and of a life that was so very similar and yet completely different, calmed her as much as saddened her. She'd been on her own before and in much more dire circumstances, she could handle this new change, she told herself firmly; she just had to keep her thoughts positive.

The campus of her new school was like something out of a medieval fairytale. It was completely charming, with lovely gardens and walks connecting each of the buildings, it wasn't the worst place she'd ever been forced to live in…but it wasn't her lovely bedroom back in California with the mural she'd painted herself and the school wasn't Angel Grove High.

Shaking herself forcefully and commanding herself to stop thinking negatively, she realized for the first time that her roommate wasn't there. Classes hadn't begun yet and wouldn't until the following Monday, more than three days away, but many of the girls had already returned to school the week before. Her roommate, supposedly, was also arriving a little late, but she should have been there before Kim, who had dallied at Andre's flat until the last possible moment. She knew nothing about her other than she had specifically requested to share with another American, so Kim had been pulled out of another room a floor below and at the opposite end of the building and traded for this one. As her new roommate hadn't arrived yet, she supposed that meant she had the first choice of bed, desk, and closet space, but as everything in the little room was completely identical, that really didn't matter either.

All the girls shared two, four, or six to a room, with the larger rooms occupying the corners of the newly renovated dorms and sporting their own bathrooms. Her room was located along the side of the rectangular building and was one of four rooms separating the larger suites. Opposite her room was the communal showers and just past those were the toilets. Since the wealthy daughters of Americans were the primary student body, the building was renovated with Americans in mind, but it was still weird to think she'd be sharing the bathroom with dozens of girls.

Andre's daughters had moved into one of the suites designed for four the previous year, but they refused to bump one of their roommate's in anticipation of their future step-sister's arrival. Kim understood, the other girls had signed on the spring before and it wouldn't have been fair. The rooms were much sought after and could only be occupied by Juniors, Seniors, or girls that were over twelve and had been boarding for more than five years.

It was mind boggling to her that there were girls as young as five and six in residence. The girls were separated by age groups, so they rarely saw one another, but it was still strange to know that that there were little girls expected to leave home and spend the school year far away from their families.

A sharp rapping on the door brought her musing to a close and she turned and opened it to face a blond girl, about her own age, smartly dressed in the school's uniform. The girl looked her up and down in snooty distain, as if Kim were unworthy of her presence, then began a barrage of quickly spoken French that she couldn't even begin to follow. At Kim's blank look, she clucked her tongue and rolled her eyes in frustration, then switched over to a thick British accent.

"The House Mother has said that you are to change into your uniform and come to her office as soon as possible." She translated as if to an idiot. "You do have a uniform?"

"My mom and I bought it yesterday." Kim replied lamely.

"Well then put it on you silly girl." The other girl huffed, "You're not a home anymore. You can hardly go around campus dressed like that." She added, jutting her chin at Kim's combination flowery sundress and combat boots; then turned and strutted down the hall.

Kim's shoulder's dropped as she watched her disappear around the corner, then she slowly leaned her head against the doorframe and sighed; so much for making new friends right off the bat like her mom assured her she would, she thought wryly. She had the worst feeling that she not only didn't belong at the beloved alma matter of Andre's girls, but that she'd never belong…not that she had a choice.

She felt hopelessly detached and alone. Never in a million years would she have guessed that she'd willingly give up her place as Zordon's pink; it was still unfathomable to her. She felt lost and very much out of place in the strange environment she found herself in. How could she not be a Ranger anymore? She wondered. Just a week before she'd been fighting Tengas and now…now what was she supposed to do? Settle down and lead the life of a normal teenage girl? How did you do that?

The echo of Zordon's calm voice rumbled through the recesses of her mind; once a Ranger, always a Ranger. But that only made her heart sink lower and her soul ache with wrenching loneliness. Inhaling deeply and getting control back over the tears, she set about unpacking her things; wishing with all her heart that she was still in Angel Grove.

* * *

Tommy banged his forehead against Ernie's counter with a thud, not even caring who saw him. He had never been more miserable and lonely in his entire life. Every inch of him felt lethargic and heavy and for the first time in his life he could have cared less if Zedd and Rita attacked. He had absolutely no motivation to do anything and had only gotten out of bed that morning after his mom threatened to take his Jeep away if he didn't haul himself off to school. He had pulled himself up, showered, and drifted robotically from class to class before the lunch bell rang and he'd simply left school and headed for the Youth Center.

"Something tells me you need something a little stronger than root beer this afternoon." Ernie offered, giving the boy a look of genuine sympathy as he wiped down an already clean counter. "Isn't it a little early for you to be out of school?"

Tommy raised his head groggily and regarded the older man blankly for a few seconds before lifting a limp fist to prop up his head. "Coffee?" He suggested weakly, not believing for a second the juice bar's owner would have given him anything else.

Ernie chuckled good naturedly and nodded his head. "How d'ya take it?" He asked with a grin.

Tommy shrugged, he'd never really had coffee before. It was one of those adult drinks that you kind of wondered at, but never really had much interest in. He'd tried it once or twice before, but it had always been the way his mother drank it, with creamer and sugar, and he knew he didn't really care for it that way.

"Here." Ernie chuckled, plopping a white restaurant grade mug in front of him and pulling a pot off its warmer. "Start with black and see what you think."

Tommy obediently raised the hot liquid to his lips and then winced at the bitter taste it provided. The after taste was even worse and it showed plainly on his face.

"Now try it with sugar." Ernie added, plopping a glass container of white sweetener in front of him. He doubted that would make much difference to the boy. Coffee, especially the thick stuff he brewed for his own use, was an acquired taste and he doubted the young teen in front of him had much experience.

Tommy obediently added a little sugar, then added a good deal more when the smaller amount didn't improve the taste. The result was too sweet, but it was better than nothing. Resigned, he continued to drink the hideous stuff, and Ernie nodded in concealed amusement.

"So why aren't you in class?" The older man asked, although he had a pretty good idea, but the teen just shrugged and stared into the mug. Trying another tactic, he added, "Did you hear they think we might have a new Ranger?"

That got Tommy's attention, his head snapped up despite himself and his eyes caught Ernie's sharply. "What?" He asked cautiously.

Noting the boy's reaction, Ernie did his best to suppress the grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth. He would never admit to the kids that his security cameras had caught them on tape morphing and transporting out of his Youth Center for the last few years, but he couldn't resist the opportunity to tweak them once in a while and make them wonder. He would watch the tapes a few times just out of curiosity, then carefully erase them so that their identities would remain secret. He was very proud of the fact that the Rangers tended to patronize his hangout and would often let them get away with things, like running off and not paying until later or getting priority time on his martial arts mats, that he didn't allow the other kids to do.

"The news is saying that the pink Ranger has either had a massive growing spurt," He confided in a confidential tone, "Or she's a new person all together."

"Why would they say that?" Tommy asked, brow crinkling up in confusion and promising himself he'd make sure to catch the evening news. As Rangers, they were morphed, the public shouldn't really be able to tell, but the news media had always been obsessed with Ranger activities and he should have known Kat's exchange wouldn't have gone unnoticed.

"Well for one thing, she's taller when she stands next to the other Rangers." Ernie supplied, unwilling to say he'd seen, via his office camera, Kat and Adam morphing next to the lockers during Zedd's last attack. "The other thing, she's…well, you know…" He added with a lopsided grin.

"She's what?" Tommy asked in confusion.

"She's got a bigger chest." Ernie supplied frankly, demonstrating with his hands pulling out from his own wide girth and giving him an amused grin that was supposed to convey a general man to man understanding of female appreciation.

Amused, Tommy chuckled despite himself. The Ranger boys had already noted, behind the girls' backs of course, that Kat filled out her spandex in a much different way than Kim, but he'd never, ever, admit that publicly. Kat was definitely more curvaceous and exuded a kind of female sensuality he and the others found very appealing, but it was Kim that his heart was breaking over.

He missed having her there to confide his thoughts in, he missed the feel of her curled up next to him, he missed the quiet way her hand would find his when he was doubting himself, he missed discussing strategies, he missed the way she smelled, he missed the way he could count on her in a fight. Kat blended well with their group, and she was learning, she really was, but she also brought back old memories of the team's first Kimberly, who was prissy and a bit hesitant to engage in the thicker throngs of the fight. She certainly showed more willingness to learn than the first Kimberly and had never run from a fight, but Tommy missed being able to hand things off to the Alternate Kimberly with the confidence that it would get done right. They were their own little team, both on the battle field and off and without her, he wasn't exactly lost, but he felt like he was operating at half speed.

"Any word from Kimberly?" Ernie asked gently, bringing the conversation back to what he figured was the root of Tommy's melancholy. He understood that was what the real problem was and also knew that he needed to move past it quickly. Teenage heartbreak was inevitable, but when the teens involved were the city's best defense against alien monsters, then those teens needed to grow up and get over it; they had a job to do. He wasn't that concerned. He'd been watching them for a while now, had seen Tommy drift in, Jason, Trini, and Zack leave, Rocky, Aisha, and Adam replace them. He'd seen Kimberly brutally attacked on the news and seen her struggle with her recovery all the while fighting for Angel Grove better than ever. He wasn't surprised that a new girl had been transitioned in when Kimberly announced her mother was taking her to France, but he had to admit to worrying a bit about the way Tommy was handling it.

"She called after she got to Andre's place in Paris to say they'd arrived." He answered gloomily. "But it's so expensive we could only talk for five minutes and then she had to hang up."

"At least you got to talk to her." Ernie offered helpfully. "I remember when I first joined the Peace Corp, I had to rely on posted letters to my girl back home… and even then we only got delivery once a month."

"But everything was ok right? You got back together again when you got back?" Tommy asked hopefully. It wasn't that he had any serious doubts that Kim would find someone else, but he was hopelessly insecure about it.

Ernie hesitated for a few seconds, weighing what he should or shouldn't say, then added sheepishly, "Well, actually, she kinda got married to someone else while I was gone…but it was for the best. We kinda grew up into different people and it would have never worked out…you know?"

Tommy's shoulders slumped and he swallowed hard against the bile that rose in his throat. His mother kept saying similar things, that there were plenty of other young girls out there and he shouldn't be so focused on just one. But Kim was the one he wanted, why should he give up on her just because she was half way around the world? It was a setback, nothing more…at least, that's what he was holding on to. They had faced worse things together, they could get through this…it was just the getting through part that was so damn hard…especially since they were only at the beginning of it.

"But hey…look," Ernie offered when the boy's dejected look seemed to get worse. "Now a days, you've got so many more ways to stay in touch than we did."

"Like what?" Tommy countered, eyes hopeful for advice, but not really counting on it. Zordon had already nixed any idea of them using the Command Center's advanced communication systems for personal use or any kind of transports for visits.

"Well….uh…" The older man hedged, thinking that the kids were Power Rangers and surely they could come up with something. "Well for one thing there's the internet thing. I'm not saying I understand it, technology isn't exactly my specialty, you know? but I know there are kids sending letters that way and you don't even have to buy a stamp; it uses the phone line. I know Robby signed me up on AOL to keep in touch with my niece Emily since my brother passed away…and she also uses it to keep in touch with all her friends; it's about twenty-five dollars a month or so….I was kinda think'n about adding a computer-phone booth or something to the Youth Center…you know, to let kids read their mail and all." He added.

In reality, he hadn't really considered any such thing, but he'd do it for Tommy and his friends if they needed him to. It could be his little part in helping the Rangers out for all they'd done for Angel Grove.

A glimmer of hope crossed Tommy's face as he considered the idea. Twenty five dollars a month was a lot for him considering his jeep and gas and insurance were eating up most of his budget, but he knew Carri had an AOL account and Rocky had signed up for one just to talk to her using its messaging system. If he could figure out a way to message Kim the same way Rocky messaged Carri, that was a hell of a lot better than one five minute phone call every month…and was probably about the same price.

"Thanks Ernie." Tommy said genuinely, expression brightening for the first time in days. "I think that just might be a good solution."

"You're welcome." The other man responded with a grin, "Glad I was able to help."

* * *

"Combat boots?" A girl's voice asked incredulously, and Kim halted her progress down the hall to listen. Most of the girls on campus spoke in French and to hear English at all, even after only a few hours, sounded strange to her ears.

"Who the hell does she think she is, Rambo?" Another female voice asked in a similar British accent and the girls broke into a chorus of giggles.

"My god, another American, as if there aren't enough of them crowding the halls. How much are we betting she shovels her food with the wrong side of the fork?"

"It a given Rose, get over it." A third girl answered and Kim could have sworn it was the blond who had come to her room. "No one ever teaches them how to eat without shoveling, it's up to the rest of us to stomach watching them… I told you she was wearing the boots with a sundress? It was the most god awful floral print, some kind of Laura Ashley fabrication, and a straw hat…"

"Well at least she wore a hat." Someone snickered and that seemed to set the others off and they giggled together.

"Oh my god…" Kim's own voice floated eerily next to her. "What a load of skanks." The ghost pronounced. "As if they're, like, just so much better in their little froo-froo school girl uniforms…oh wait, you're decked out in one too." She teased. "So tell me Kimmee, who dropped us in the middle of a Sailor Moon cosplay contest? Hmmmm? Michael would be in heaven if he was here."

Kim ignored the ghost. She knew all too well from past experience that answering her out loud would just get her sent to the shrink's office. Besides, the spirit of the previous Kimberly was pretty good at reading her thoughts anyway; otherwise she doubted the specter would have mentioned their brother. She had just mused to herself that she looked like a character in one of his books and she was sure that's what the other Kimberly was referencing.

Humorous thoughts of Michael and his passion for anime, however, didn't make her feel any better about her uniform. It was a prim, short blue skirt with undershorts and white shirt that came complete with short puff sleeves and a sailor collar. Tied under the collar was a bright red ribbon that could be worn as a tie or as a bow as the girls decided. The girls could also choose between a matching blue beret or large bow, but one or the other had to be worn at all times. It was the most hideous ensemble she'd ever encountered. The only item of clothing the girls were allowed to choose for themselves was their shoes, which was the central item that decided your place in the social order, but those still had to be worn with bright white knee high cotton socks.

Looking down at her army boots, a fashion statement in Angel Grove, she was suddenly very relieved that she had let her mother pack her a pair of black ballet flats. Cautiously, she backed away from the girls before they could see her and headed back up the three flights of stairs that would take her to her room.

"It's your own fault you know." The ghost continued as she escorted her up the stairway. "I mean, army boots? You started that fashion trend based on my reputation for what was in at Angel Grove High. Personally? I would never have been caught dead in them…oh hey, I made a funny, get it? Caught dead…"

Kim growled to herself under her breath and then murmured something about the spirit getting lost and going to haunt her brother instead, but the phantom of the other girl only laughed.

"No sweetie, I'm supposed to hang around and guide you until you're powers are under control. It's only a bonus that I get to see mom and Mikie occasionally."

"Great…" Kim growled as she reached the last step and came to an abrupt stop, "Just great…" She repeated, hands on her hips and shaking her head. Normally she didn't mind the ghost and on just about any other occasion she would have been happy for her company, but not at that moment.

A few girls hustled down the hall and looked her up and down as they past, but she ignored them. Stepping forward resolutely and marching down toward her room, she was so focused on changing her stupid shoes before anything else could happen to her that she was more than three quarters of the way there before she realized the commotion being carried on in rapid French was actually coming from her room. She slowed her march down, cautiously taking in the loud disturbance, but it was too late, they had already seen her.

"Oh, I forgot," the ghost added with a little giggle. "I wanted to tell you downstairs that your roommate's arrived."

* * *

"So all I have to do is get an account here and then she gets an account there and it'll still work?" Tommy asked hopefully.

"Affirmative." Billy responded, then added. "I mean… yes. Both AOL and AOL France are owned and operated by the same parent company and as my recent inquiry revealed, I mean…when I checked for you…" He amended carefully, "I was assured that their Instant Message function was compatible, all you have to do is add her screen name to your buddy list and the program will tell you when she comes online and you can chat."

"That's awesome." The white Ranger responded, with a huge, incredulous grin.

"It would have been more awesome," Billy parodied, trying to emulate his friend's casual use of idioms correctly, "If I had succeeded in patenting the technology first, but, as it is, I will simply have to satisfy myself with the knowledge that my inventions are utilized and incorporated within the Command Center for the benefit of all mankind…free of charge."

Tommy gave his friend a lopsided grin, not sure if he was serious or simply trying to practice his conversational skills. Without Kim to coach him, he was pretty much on his own, but he seemed to be doing alright.

"So she needs a computer and I need a computer…" He said, watching Billy's reaction and ticking off the items with his fingers, "…and then we need phone lines."

"The system operates off what's commonly known as dial-up." Billy confirmed patiently. "It's nothing at all like the access we have here and my assumption is you'll be as frustrated with the speed as I am."

"It doesn't matter." Tommy replied, sitting back and finally feeling pretty good about life again. "We'll be able to talk to each other as much as we want."

"The internet access will be restricted by your subscription." Billy warned. "And it's only simple messaging back and forth, you won't actually be able to talk."

"It's still more than we had before." Tommy countered with a grin, "And we're not taking advantage of the Command Center's computers, so Zordon won't have to worry…you're sure you can get my mom's computer hooked up?"

"Positive." Billy answered dryly, with a look that was slightly offended.

"It's not you I'm doubting." Tommy added congenially, "It's my mom's computer. I'm not even sure it has a place for a phone line."

"I assure you, I'm quite capable of installing…" The blue Ranger began, but then stopped as the alarms blared.

"Ai yi yi! Rangers!" Alpha wailed over the noise in the chamber. "Tengas in the park!"

"We're on it Alpha." Tommy assured as he stood up confidently, genuinely happy for the first time in days. "It's Morphin Time!"

* * *

"There, you see my dear?" Zedd murmured as he and Rita shared the spy glass back and forth. "I was correct. Zordon has tapped a new pink Ranger."

"You're right Zeddie." Rita cackled, bringing her fingers up to cradle Zedd's armored face. "You're so brilliant." She cooed, then turned back to the telescope. She'd noticed the new pink during the last battle, but hadn't said anything; sometimes, she thought ruefully, it was just better to make him think he was more gifted than he actually was.

"Of course I am my dear." Zedd stated confidently, marching up his dais and seating himself regally on his throne. "The question is, who is she and what has become of the other pink?"

Rita paused, knowing he wasn't going to like the answer anymore than she had. Any moron would easily assume that it was either of the Hillard girls, and she'd been right that Zordon had chosen Katherine over Carri. Carri would have been too strong in pink; she would have driven Tommy crazy inside of a week. Katherine, on the other hand, was disgustingly sweet and mellow, when she wasn't jealous or hormonal, and was sure to compliment the Ranger's fearless leader. However, her defection the previous year still stung and her induction into the ranks of Zordon's power brats was like rubbing salt in the wound.

"What about that Carri girl?" Rito asked. "They could'a picked her. She's always gett'n herself tangled into the Ranger's business… and she fights pretty good… for a girl."

"Carri's temper and rebellious nature might be the better choice for us." Rita interjected before Zedd could yell at her brother, "But Zordon would choose a more mild candidate for pink…if only to spare the white Ranger excess aggravation with conflicting personalities."

"Katherine." Zedd pronounced, working his jaw in irritation. He still hadn't forgiven the blond girl for stealing back the power coin for the Rangers; it had been his closest stab at victory over Zordon yet and she'd ruined it.

"It would make sense Zeddie." Rita soothed. "She's proven herself annoyingly pure of heart and loyal…"

"And what of Kimberly?" Zedd pondered.

"Her mother moved her half way across the planet." Rita offered testily, forgetting to play dumb, then quickly turned her back on him in a forceful swish of petticoats in case he noticed. She hadn't forgotten Zedd's obsession with Kimberly after the demon Kemora had split her into two distinct personalities. He'd wanted her for his bride…not that she was jealous or anything.

"I wonder…" Zedd mused, tapping his chin with his metal tipped fingers. "Why would Zordon leave his favorite little pink all alone."

"We've seen it before." Rita answered dismissively. "Remember, there was a team change up not too long ago when three of the little brats moved all at once. You aren't thinking of going after her?" She added, wondering silently if her husband really was obsessed with the little pink power punk. "Isn't that against the rules?"

"There is no honor, good or evil, to be had in slaughtering a powerless former enemy." Zedd mused, fingers still tapping his chin as he pondered the possibilities, "But there's nothing in the rule book that says we can't hold captive the love of that pathetic white Ranger's life."

Rita grinned evilly at her husband, understanding now what he was scheming. "Little Tommykins will be devastated." She purred. "And completely unable to focus on anything but getting her back…Oh Zeddy, you truly are an evil genius aren't you?" She giggled brightly.

"Of course I am my dear…" Zedd mused, beginning to enjoy where their next plot might take them.

* * *

Kim stood, stunned, as she watched the heated argument taking place in the hallway. Her eyes saw it, but she still couldn't believe it.

"Oh my God…you cannot be serious!" Carri exclaimed in perfect French. "This was so not part of the deal." She ended in English. "There is no way in hell that I'm sharing a bathroom with an entire floor of girls."

"Carri." Her mother said in a frustrated voice that showed she was vainly trying to remain calm, "You agreed to behave."

"There was nothing in the agreement about a communal bathroom!" Carri howled. "My God mom, those showers barely have curtains on them!" She added, then froze as she realized Kim had come into view. "Nice uniform…." She scoffed sarcastically, glad to see her friend but still appalled at the tiny room and living conditions of the dormitory. "You look very…." She wanted to tease and say virginal, but her mom was present and she knew better, "School-ish…" She finished, adding a look that was meant to be comical, but came off nearly as derisive as the other girls. "Tommy would totally get off on it."

"What are you doing here?" Kim asked in genuine amazement.

"You mean your mom didn't tell you?" Carri asked, walking closer. "We're roomies."

"But how?" Kim asked, still dumbfounded. "You were supposed to go to New York."

"Mom's always wanted Europe," Carri explained with an absent wave of her hand, "And when I heard you were coming here, I made a deal. I agreed, in writing, to behave and take my exile like a big girl in exchange for getting to be your roommate at your school in France…my parents were so happy to oblige they practically cried."

"Oh…my…God!" Kim exclaimed as the reality of the situation dawned on her. She practically jumped forward to embrace her friend and the two jumped around like ding-dongs for several long seconds; squealing and giggling like idiots.

"But that still doesn't alter the fact that the room is totally unacceptable." Carri declared suddenly, stopping their bouncing and refocusing on her complaint.

"What's wrong with it?" Kim asked, other than, she admitted silently, it was plain and small and ugly and nothing like the pretty suite of rooms her friend had at home.

"Are you serious?" Carri exclaimed, looking over her shoulder through the open door. "You've seen it right?"

"Carri, we've been through this…" Her mother began, but Carri whirled on her, temper high, but still under control.

"No…we haven't" She contradicted, not giving an inch. "Have you seen that bathroom?" She asked, pointing a long and stern finger at it. "More importantly, would you use that bathroom? You wouldn't, would you?"

"The dormitory is full young lady." An oversized, middle aged woman reprimanded sternly in a thick French accent. "You are very lucky to have a room at all, let alone the roommate you requested."

Carri rolled her eyes dramatically, foot tapping rhythmically in an attempt to curb her temper. She knew very well that her father had-had to pay, and pay dearly, to secure his daughter a room less than a week before the semester began. It was no accident she and Kim were roomies, it had been one of the written terms of Carri's good behavior deal and she had heard nonstop about how much that one little line in her "contract" with her parents had cost them.

"Madame Boielle," Carri's mother crooned, stepping in to diffuse the situation. "Surely some sort of arrangement can be made to accommodate my daughter with a private bathroom?"

"The dormitory is full Madame." The house mother replied sternly. No matter how rich this American was and no matter how many instructions she'd received from the Head Mistress to keep the girl happy, that didn't change that she was arrogantly swooping in upon them and demanding privileges that many girls had to wait years for.

"It's not that bad…" Kim whispered. It honestly wasn't, she thought silently to herself, Carri was making a mountain out of a mole hill.

"Yes, it is." Carri hissed without looking back, arms crossed haughtily across her chest, giving her mother a look that silently commanded that she fix it or the entire deal was off.

Rebecca Hillard closed her eyes excruciatingly slowly, very much aware that her daughter would not hesitate to null and void their so called "contract" over the lack of a simple bathroom; but then again, she'd trained her that way.

Carri had sworn to be a hellion like no other if she was sent away to New York and threatened to make the tabloids "orgasmic" with her antics, however, if her parents would agree to her terms, she would be the epitome of a good daughter, make straight A's, and be on the best behavior possible for her; which included no boys, no sex, and no swearing. It also included no drugs or alcohol and a pretty family portrait, but Carri figured that was a given anyway. In return, she had 5 simple demands.

First, she had to attend the same school that her friend Kimberly was going to in France, which thrilled her mother to no end. Second, her parents would ensure she had a private room or, if that simply wasn't possible, she would share a room with Kimberly Hart and no one else. Third, she would get her credit cards and allowance back; life without them had proven exceptionally difficult. Fourth, they would make sure she was just as comfortable as before she left home; which included the use of her dad's private jet to come home for Christmas. And fifth, if she maintained the terms of the contract for one year, she would be allowed to come home and attend Angle Grove High for senior year, Kimberly would be asked to come home with her to live in their house as her companion, and she would be allowed to date Rocky again.

The last term had been a huge source of contention, but Carri had sweetened the deal by adding that she would continue her exemplary behavior upon return for the whole of her senior year; as long as she could date Rocky again. Once she had promised not to elope with the aforementioned boyfriend until after the age of twenty-one and then only with an approved pre-nup created by her father's lawyers, both parents had signed the notebook paper the informal contract was written on and considered themselves to have gotten the better part of the bargain.

"Term number four." Carri stated definitively, foot tapping, eyes challenging…and her mother nodded in weary defeat.

"Madame Boielle," She began in the aggrieved tone of a parent, "Isn't there any possibility of obtaining a suite? I'm sure my husband would be more than happy to pay the extra dorm fees to assure Carri of her privacy."

"Madame, the dorm is full." The house mother insisted. "There is an extra double if your daughter wishes a private room, but none of the suites are available. The waiting list for them is two years long; at least."

"Who are the girls in this room?" Carri's mother asked, changing tactics; a private room wouldn't do her daughter any good if Carri still had to use the public toilets and showers. A small crowd of teenage girls were milling about their doorways eavesdropping on the commotion and she turned her attention to a set of four dallying in the doorway of what she knew was a smaller suite with its own private bathroom. The girls blanched and retreated in unison, suddenly very aware of the eyes upon them and embarrassed to be the center of attention.

"How about we make a deal?" Rebecca suggested as sweetly as a cat about to devour a bird; eyes narrowing very reminiscent of Carri when she was after something.

"What kind of deal?" One of the girls answered hesitantly.

"Five thousand US dollars to each of you if you leave this room and take the two doubles open." Rebecca announced blandly, not bothering to mince words.

"To each of us?" One of the girls asked in amazement.

"I've waited five years for a chance at a private bathroom." One of the other girls announced defiantly, hands coming up to her hips in annoyance. "I don't need your money, my dad gives me all I want as it is."

"Ten thousand." Rebecca countered smoothly.

"Madame!" The house mother protested, "This is absolutely unheard of!"

"And ten to the house mother for the inconvenience we've caused you." Rebecca dropped, smiling evilly as the house mother's eyes widened. "Cash."

"I'll trade with you Moira." One of the other girls from the opposite end offered. "I'll take her ten thousand and double with Mary Alice. You can have my bed, it's the same room, just on the other end."

"I'll do it." Mary Alice agreed quickly. "Take Beth's room Moira, everyone knows you'll be happier with Bea and Snoops anyway. She and I roomed last year in the same room the Yank wants out of, we can do it again."

"I believe that leaves space in the suite for Carri and her friend…how about the remaining two girls? Do you prefer to share with my daughter or would you be more comfortable down the hall with extra spending money?" Rebecca asked with deadly sweetness.

The two remaining girls looked in Carri's direction and she did her absolute best to look like the meanest, most spoiled female hellion to ever occupy the planet. It worked. The two nodded once between themselves and agreed to the move.

"You see Madame Boielle?" Rebecca sighed. "We seem to have worked it all out most amicably."

* * *

Kim sighed as she finished unpacking for the second time that day. The four person suite wasn't really all that much bigger than the two person, in fact, if four girls had been sharing it, it would have been a great deal smaller, but it did sport its own toilet and tiny little shower with a hand held nozzle.

Carri's mother had-had the second set of bunk beds and extra desks taken out of the main room, which opened up a lot more space for the girls to rearrange their desks and still leave room for the promised mini fridge and chairs Rebecca assured them she was sending.

"This is so much more doable." Carri sighed, flopping on the lower bunk she'd claimed as her own.

"I think your mother's just insured we'll be the two most hated girls at school." Kim muttered, turning to regard her frankly. When Carri snorted and shrugged her shoulders, she added, "I'm really glad you're here though. I haven't felt so out of place since…well since before my accident."

At her friend's words, Carri sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees, "Well if I've got to be banished from California, I might as well do it on my terms."

Kim simply shook her head, marveling at it all. "What did you have to promise to get your mom to step in like that?" She asked. For as long as she'd known Carri, her relationship with her mother had been contentious; to put it nicely. It was hard to believe her mother would spoil her to the point of paying out fifty thousand dollars just for her daughter to have a private room.

"Let's just say fifty grand was a small price to pay for an entire year of peace and quiet." Carri mused. "Hell, she spends more than that on one day's shopping in LA."

"You promised to be good? That's it?" Kim asked incredulously.

"Yeah, but before I promised I was really, really awful…for days…awful even for me." The other girl answered with a wicked smile. "I went hoarse I screamed so much." She admitted, chuckling, then sighed gloomily. It hadn't been fun and it certainly wasn't going to be any kind of picnic over the next year, but at least she'd gone somewhat under her own terms…and that was better than nothing, wasn't it? She couldn't wait to turn eighteen, but the next time she out and out rebelled, she was going to make damn sure she was in a better position to go up against her parents.

"It won't be so bad." She said, more to herself than to her friend. "I get to hang out with you, and you'll help me behave, then, if I'm really, really good this year, I can come home for senior year and…" She added with a pleased as punch grin, "I get to invite you to come live with us in Angel Grove."

"Are you serious?" Kim asked excitedly, eyes brightening; she could go home, she could see Tommy. "Why would your mom agree to that?"

Carri shrugged casually, as if it were no big deal. "Kat already lives with us, why not you? We've got the room. Besides, I told her you were a goody two-shoes influence on me… and Kat actually agreed, can you imagine that? You'll help me behave right? I'm honestly not so sure I can do it on my own." She added seriously.

"For the chance to go home senior year?" Kim asked, "You're damn right I'm gonna make sure you behave."

"Great…" Carri drolled sarcastically, then flopped back on her bed. "This is gonna be one interesting year…you know that?"


	6. Chapter 6: Crossroads

Power Rangers: The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning

Chapter 6: Crossroads

_**Disclaimer: The Power Rangers now belong to Saban. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks for the loan of such a fabulous character. Everything else is from my imagination.**_

_*For more stories on Carri and how she fits into the Ranger world, see KJ's Ranger Scrolls, Legacy, and Dark Inheritance __( __.net/u/4024/KJ__)__ She can also be found in the Coins (.net/s/3464510/1/The_Coins_Series) or in the original Alternate story(.net/s/3542883/1/The_Alternate)*_

_

* * *

_

"Do you think that there's any truth to the rumor that excessive homework gives you wrinkles?" Carri asked, slamming her book shut and tossing it on the floor with a thud. It had been a good day, but the mountain of homework they'd been assigned to finish over the weekend was just cruel and unusual punishment.

"It certainly hurts my head." Kim commiserated, starring at the French words blurring together on the textbook page in front of her. Technically, she was in remedial French classes, but the workload required to catch her up had been more overwhelming than she'd anticipated. She was completely immersed in French for the entire second half of her day, but instead improving her ability to communicate, it simply gave her headaches.

After one full month of school, she knew the basics of how to ask directions and order what she wanted to eat in the cafeteria, but not much more. The English girls laughed at her for struggling with remedial classes, the French girls complained and yapped at her pronunciation; she just wanted to go home. Carri, who had taken several years of French in her other schools, had been a huge help, but learning to function in a different country with a different language was far more difficult than she could have ever anticipated.

Far from welcoming their new stepsister, as Andre assured her they would, his two eldest girls seemed to conspire at every turn to embarrass, scoff, ridicule, and downright humiliate their new American stepsister. They spread ugly rumors about her, pulled pranks on teachers and staff which always seemed to get her into trouble instead of them, and generally made life on campus a living hell for her. If she was homesick for Angel Grove at the beginning of her tenure, she was absolutely miserable with her longing and pining to return after the first month.

At home, she didn't have to try and carve out a place for herself. She had the Rangers and the original Kimberly's reputation. The new school, however, was a far cry from Angle Grove. The social hierarchy was as alien as the language and if it hadn't been for her friend, she'd have melted in the first few days to the bottom of the untouchables before she could even find her footing.

Carri, for all her temper and prickliness, was the daughter of the producer of the single most popular American TV drama in all of Europe and her ability to procure autographs and videos of episodes that wouldn't premier for at least another year had assured her an automatic place in the dorm hierarchy. Fortunately, she'd firmly pulled Kim along with her.

While neither girl had any real interest in the teenage pyramid of popularity, boarding in the dorms wasn't anything like being able to escape to the security of your own home after the final bell rang. The boarders were set, the doors sealed, and like prisoners in the best lockdown facilities, the girls already on the inside knew how to work a system that new girls had yet to figure out. Both realized in short order that they had to carve out their turf pretty quickly and be ready to defend it or they'd be completely at the mercy of the resident female population the entire year.

Once it became clear that Andre's girls were on the opposing team, it didn't take long to figure out where their own allies were and befriend them. Both of them were now firmly established with the "neck ties," as opposed to the "bow brats," and among the neckties, they were further distinguished as the "long neck" crew; or rather, those with good families and a lot of money who wore hats and penny loafers instead of hair bows and ballet flats. It seemed hopelessly trivial to Kim, considering the current intergalactic state of the universe, and her mother merely rolled her eyes at her panicked demand for new footwear, but in the all-consuming battleground of the high school boarding dorm, it dictated everything you did and said.

Carri, not one to lets slights and pranks on her friend go by un-retaliated and certainly not one to let bygones be bygones with Kim's eldest stepsister, took great delight in turning the tables on them and found she had a gift for strategy and a love of combat, if only on the schoolgirl level, that she hadn't known existed. Once the score had been settled, she pressed on; relishing her victories and plotting for the day the opposing team would be completely vanquished. Kim just shook her head and silently thanked the Great Power that it had been Kat and not her cousin that had fallen prey to Rita's spell the previous year; the Rangers might have been doomed otherwise.

For all she appreciated her friend's antics on her behalf, Kim, in her heart, was still a Ranger; even if she didn't have her coin or the ability to morph. While her Ranger training wouldn't allow her to actually plot the destruction of a pack of spiteful girls, she also wasn't about to let those same girls walk all over her, so she allowed herself to be pulled in on Carri's plots and to give as good as she got; telling herself she'd just have to ask for Zordon's forgiveness later. It took about a month, and the direct intervention of the head mistress, for the dust to settle, but the tension was ever present and she was just as on guard for attacks as she was in Angle Grove.

She never mentioned any of the bickering and infighting to her mother, who was just as stressed over learning to live in France as she was, but she chronicled all of it to Tommy in her early morning emails and would wait with baited breath for his responses. He was faithful in returning her litanies with little summaries of his own, but she was always a bit disappointed that the volume of his notes were usually short and to the point and hardly as detailed as her own. Carri had a worse problem with Rocky, who'd write maybe one or two sentences back, one of which was always "I miss you" or "yeah, me too," so she kind of considered herself lucky. Both of them just shook their heads and chalked it up to not understanding boys and their idea of adequate long distant communication.

Instant message conversations went a little belter, but because of the time difference and the lack of available phone time for the girls, they were few and far between. When the girls would finally manage to grab the phone and actually get through to a dial up connection number that wasn't busy, half the time AOL would bumped them off, freeze, or just plain refuse to work… but it was better than nothing.

On the whole, Carri's computer had saved her sanity. She would read Tommy's daily notes and be reassured, if only for a little while, that all was well and that he still loved her. He said very little about the Rangers and how things were going against Zedd and Rita, not that she expected him to, and frustratingly little about Katherine Hillard, except that she was learning quickly and blending well with the group. He told her mostly about how hard his job was on his uncle's pit crew, how physically taxing it was and how they gave him very little slack when his "pager" went off, or he would tell her that he struggled on a test or that Aisha said hi, but on the whole it generally just made her more homesick than anything else.

"Do you think Boil is asleep yet?" Carri asked with a yawn, referring to the house mother, Madame Boielle.

"I doubt it." Kim muttered back. "Lights out for the under sixteens was only a half an hour ago. She'll stay up at least long enough to make sure our crew is locked up."

"Damn, I want to snag the phone line." She muttered.

That was another problem with their computerized communication, Kim thought crossly to herself. Since none of the girls were allowed a personal line in their rooms, Carri had to run one out into the hall; which made it more than obvious when the floor's phone had been "hijacked again by the Yanks." The girls in the dorm had taken to complaining on a regular basis that Carri and Kim were taking unfair advantage, which had led to their computer being restricted to the times when the telephone wasn't in use. But the only time the phone wasn't in use by a floor full of teenage girls was after lights out, when no one was allowed to use the phone, or painfully early, before breakfast when everyone was either still asleep or focused on showering and doing their hair.

Madame Boielle had very little sympathy for either of the girls if they were in violation of any rules, so if they ever wanted to check their emails once the day had started, they had to wait up long enough in the evening for the other girls to lock their doors before trying to log on. The afterhours phone pirating worked great, unless the house mother realized what they were doing, so they generally waited for her to conk out as well; although sometimes that even backfired as the high pitched whine and computerized screech of the dial-up connection would wake up unsuspecting neighbors or frighten the unwary bathroom wanders in the middle of the night.

"I wouldn't risk it Carri." Kim advised. "We're already in trouble for hogging the line and if Boil finds out, she'll confiscate the computer."

"She wouldn't dare." Her friend returned. "She's too scared my dad will complain I'm being treated unfairly again. He's donating almost all of the money needed for the new science and math building and the head mistress told her she has to keep me happy until it's a done deal."

"I still wouldn't risk it." Kim returned. If they lost the computer, her one and only real link to Tommy, life at school really would become unbearable.

"Yeah I know." Carri agreed, "But Angle Grove was playing Stone Canyon Friday night and I want to know how they did."

"Rocky didn't have anything about it today?"

"Nah…" She answered, shaking her head. "I really didn't expect him to. He sleeps pretty late on Saturdays anyway and he and Adam were going out with the other players after the game. I'm sure he just slept late or got busy with Ranger stuff. The time difference between here and Angle Groves sucks."

"Well it's better than waiting on snail mail from overseas like most of the girls in the dorm."

"Yeah, I guess." She answered unenthusiastically, fidgeting absently with her fingers.

"But…" Kim coaxed, sensing there was more to her friend's response than what she'd said.

"But…" Carri answered, dropping her pencil against her desk with a disgusted thud and turning to regard the other girl blandly. "Cherry Pingly and the cheer clones were supposedly tagging along and Missy Perkins sent me a photo of her and Rocky playing the Pachinko machine at Ernie's together a couple of weeks ago…her hand was on his butt. I'd only been gone two weeks, that's all it took her to move in."

"Rocky's not interested in Cherry." Kim answered dismissively, not adding that she knew Cherry was interested in Rocky.

"Yeah…right…" Her friend answered sarcastically. "Just like Kat's not interested in Tommy."

"It's a little different." Kim answered, irritated that her friend would remind her of her greatest insecurity. "I already know for sure that Kat's interested in Tommy." And, she added silently to herself, I also know that on my home world he chose her over me.

"Not really, but whatever, right? I'm gone for a whole year, who cares what he does in the interim. Maybe I should look around too." She rebutted in a tone that should have suggested she didn't care, but both girls knew she did. "Not that we're ever allowed out of this place long enough for me to have time to look around." She added morbidly.

"Rocky's not going to look around." Kim stated firmly. Rocky was a Ranger, there was a code of honor to be followed…wasn't there? Cheating was dishonorable and Rangers were never dishonorable, weren't they?

"He's a guy isn't he?" Carri muttered. In her experience guys cheated. Her previous boyfriends all cheated, her brother cheated on his girlfriends, her dad even cheated on her mother. That was just the way of things.

"Not all guys fool around behind your back." Kim replied, a slight edge creeping into her voice, echoing her own fears. Then again, her own dad had cheated on her mom, ending their marriage. When her friend gave her a look that suggested her friend was incredibly naïve, she added, "Rocky loves you, he said so."

"He's a guy." Carri responded flatly, as if simply being male explained everything. "Men are perfectly capable of being in love with you and then turning around and cheating just for the hell of it."

"He's not your dad." Kim responded, although she was less than sure she was on the winning end of the argument.

In response, Carri simply shrugged turned out her desk light.

* * *

"Want some company?" Kat asked hesitantly, then smiled when Tommy looked up and nodded.

"Yeah sure." He answered, closing his white notebook and stashing it under a pile of books that he moved over to one side in order to make room at the small table for the new pink Ranger. He hadn't realized how packed Ernie's had gotten, but after a careful glance around the hangout, he realized he was the only other Ranger there, so it was probably more courteous to make the new girl feel welcome and make a space for her; even if he was a little busy and didn't really wanted to socialize.

"Are you doing your homework?" She asked sweetly, long lashes batting across her pretty blue eyes. She was wearing a brand new pink sweater and new enamel earrings that she'd bought on sale at the mall. Even though there wasn't much that could be done with her painfully short hair, she'd taken extra care with her makeup and had even secretly borrowed a little of her aunt's expensive French perfume and she was dying to know if the effort had paid off.

"Oh, uh…no." He answered uncomfortably. "I mean, I finished that already. I was just going through a few books and manuals and things for the race track. There's so much I don't know."

He'd actually just gotten his first pay check as an intern on his uncle's pit crew. The amount, when compared to how much he made teaching Karate at Ernie's, completely blew his mind, even after the taxes had been withheld, and he'd been recalculating the finances in the notebook to see how far ahead he and Kim would be at the end of two years when they finished high school. He knew his uncle was paying him too much, knew the other members of the crew probably knew it too, but what was the point of being the owner's only nephew if he couldn't enjoy a little nepotism?

He should have been studying the manuals the crew chief had piled on him to memorize before the next practice drills, but he couldn't help himself. He and Kim were already months ahead of schedule and that was only with the one single paycheck. Two year's worth of potential savings had him almost giddy as he recalculated the figures.

As Kat's eyes dropped to the manuals and car magazines the object of her affection had hastily piled out of the way, her heart sank a little and she stifled a little groan. Cars didn't especially interest her. Still, if Tommy was into racing, she could try and make herself feel a little interest too.

"It looks difficult." She said, for lack of anything better.

"Nah, not really." He returned amicably. "It's just that the crew has to work fast and everyone has a different job. It's not like its rocket science or anything, but it's technical and my uncle wants me to know all sides. He says it'll make me a better driver one day, although my mom says it sounds more like he thinks he's grooming me to take over for him one day as an owner since he doesn't have any kids and I'm the only one in the family that likes it as much as he does."

"I'm sure." She answered with a sweet smile, but then the conversation stalled and she couldn't think of anything else to say, so the two simply stared at each other for several long, painful seconds. "Uhm, maybe I could come over to the track and you could show me what you're learning." She offered lamely.

"You like Nascar?" He asked, forehead creasing a little in confusion. Kim didn't even like the track, although she put a good show on for his sake; which he appreciated. He was hoping that, once she learned a little more about it, and especially when she realized he could really make a living doing it, that she'd warm up to the sport a little. In the meantime, she thought it was too loud and the gas and burnt rubber smells gave her a headache.

"I don't really know much about it." She admitted. "Although I'd be interested to learn."

"Well…sure. Yeah, I guess." He answered. "I'm not driving in any races or anything and I'm not allowed to work the crew until I get better at my time and they know a little better where I fit best, but sure…there's a race in Stone Canyon two Saturdays from now, if you want to come and hang out."

"I'd love two!" She nearly squealed, eyes twinkling brightly.

"Yeah, we could get the whole gang to go." He added, nodding absently as he considered the idea. "I'm sure my uncle wouldn't mind. I mean, if we stay out of the way and stuff." He added, smiling as he thought about offering the Rangers a fun day out.

"Oh…" She said before she could stop herself. "Sure…the whole gang. That sounds like fun."

"Yeah, and you know what?" He added, warming up to the idea a little more, but he never got a chance to finish as both their communicators chirped simultaneously.

The two looked around quickly in surprise, trying to see if anyone in the crowded juice bar had heard the call to action, then rose almost simultaneously. Tommy quickly shoved all his books and papers into his backpack and the two headed out through the thick crowd of teens in search of a safe place to transport.

* * *

Well that was a waste of time." Rita grumbled, pushing her telescope roughly from her. "That monster lasted about as long as Rito's memory on a bad day."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her brother asked in a completely confused tone, but she only growled at him in response.

"Patience my dear." Zedd soothed, rising from his dais and striding forward, "All is going exactly as I've planned."

"I thought the plan was to kidnap Kimberly and make Tommy frantic to get her back." She snapped. Days had turned into weeks and weeks into a full month and Zordon's ex-pink still slept safely in her bed at night half a world away from Angel Grove.

"It still is." He returned, irritated that she would question him. "Zordon has been monitoring his ex-Ranger far more closely than his other retirees, lending some truth to the rumor she's a particular favorite. I've decided it's more prudent to wait until he's relaxed his guard."

"Then we'll swoop in and snatch her out of her bed?" She asked, but whether her tone was sarcastic or not, he really couldn't tell.

"Then we will retrieve her and place her in one of your old dark subdimensions. We'll give the white Ranger until the stroke of midnight to rescue her, and while he's busy, I'll send in a monster to annihilate the Rangers."

"Oh yes, we've had such stunning success with monsters lately." She drolled nastily, not even flinching when her husband whirled on her in anger.

She really didn't understand what he was waiting for. At first he'd wanted to gauge Katherine's strength as a pink, then he'd wanted to see if Tommy's pining for Kimberly had weakened him, which it hadn't; now he simply seemed to be stalling.

"I have lured the Rangers into a false sense of security." He snarled, and her eyes narrowed as if not believing him for an instant. "I've allowed that worthless brother of yours to take charge, as your father requested, and he's bungled operation after operation, proving his ineptitude."

"So that's what you've been up to." She replied tertly. "Setting Rito up to take the fall when daddy's deadline to eliminate the Rangers comes due."

"I don't think I like that idea." Rito piped up, loose bones rattling as he shifted uncomfortably, but immediately retreated into the shadows when both his sister and her husband turned on him and simultaneously barked at him to shut up.

"For the last thirty days, your brother has been completely in charge, as your father requested." Zedd growled. "I have given him complete leeway, put the Tengas and all the resources of the Lunar Palace at his disposal…and look at the results." He finished in a disgusted tone.

"So now daddy's on his way for his annual millennial visit and when he asks why Zordon's still snug in his tube and the Rangers are all in one piece, you can just point your metal clad finger at his son."

"When your father arrives." Zedd clarified in a deadly tone "Zordon's favorite brat will be entombed in a dark dimension, the legendary white Ranger battling Goldar to the death to save her in time, and you and I…" He finished in a bright, conspiratorial tone, "Will have created a monster to end all monsters and the Rangers will be begging for mercy at its feet."

Rita stared at her husband, wondering if he really believed his plan would work anymore than any of the thousands of other plans before this one had. There was something unusual about this group of teenagers. It wasn't Tommy, it wasn't Jason, it wasn't even Kimberly or odd little Billy. No matter who left or stayed or replaced the other, they continued to work flawlessly together and provide their stupid little planet with one of the strongest defenses she'd ever encountered.

Rangers, as a general rule, were not an easy force to go up against on a good day, but to have such a young team, from such a primitive world, do so well, for so long, under so many variable and changing conditions, was just simply unheard of. You'd think they could have managed to kill just one of them, but so far even Ivan Ooze hadn't been able to score one for the dark side.

Now her father had turned his eyes in their direction; which was never a good sign. What had begun as a simple conquest a few years ago was now raising eyebrows and people were talking. Earth was being mentioned as a challenge worthy of the biggest of the baddies. She didn't want her father barging in and taking over, but she also understood that he didn't want his daughter's reputation tarnished by her husband's failure. She supposed it was inevitable that he'd elbow in on them to show them what a real evil doer could do, but she didn't like it. She would never admit it publically, but she liked being married to Zedd and she felt a certain obligation to stand up for him.

"Zeddykins…" She purred, demeanor shifting instantly, and almost comically, back into that of the good wife. "I knew there was a reason I married you." She cooed, throwing her arms wide open and wrapping them around him.

She didn't believe for an instant that his plan would work any better than any of the others had, but she'd play along and hope for the best until her father arrived. Once that happened, maybe she could somehow manipulate things behind the scenes in her husband's favor. After all, that's what wives did for their husbands, wasn't it?

* * *

Kim woke instantly, confused and not really sure why. Something was pulling her, commanding her sleepy body to rise. At first she resisted. She was warm under the thick covers and her slumbering mind didn't want to give up on her dreams, so she closed her eyes again, brushing off the feeling, but it tugged harder and her eyes opened once again, mind suddenly remembering what the pull was and what she was supposed to do when it happened.

Slowly, she sat up and swung her legs over the top bunk, trying to be as quiet as possible and cringing with every creek and groan of the old wooden frame. She slid carefully down each leg of the ladder, watching her friend's sleeping form to make sure she was sound asleep, then padded across the room, grabbed her shoes, and slid out the door; closing it quietly behind her.

* * *

"So what's up with you and Kat?" Rocky asked as the boys headed off the mat and to the locker room to change. He hadn't meant to just blurt it out, but Aisha had been bugging him nonstop to ask and he hadn't really found the right time or place to do it.

Surprised, the white Ranger stopped in his tracks, brow creased in confusion and turned to stare at his friend. "What do you mean what's up with me and Kat?"

"Well, nothing, it's just that Kim's barely been gone four weeks and you two are always hanging out together now a days." He replied.

"No we're not." Tommy rebutted. "She's one of the team, that's all, I don't hang out with her any more than any of you guys."

"Not really." Rocky contradicted uneasily, shuffling his feet and looking away. He wished Adam was there to support him a little, but his friend had gone to study for the history exam facing them on Monday. He didn't really feel it was his place to say anything, it wasn't any skin off his back if the leader of the Rangers was interested in another girl while his girlfriend was thousands of miles away, but Aisha had been yammering at him to find out what was going on and his own girlfriend had warned him that he better keep an eye on his friend and let her know if he strayed or not; especially given her cousin's predisposed feelings towards their leader.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tommy asked, temper rising and feeling unfairly accused of something he hadn't done.

"Nothing." The red Ranger returned. "It's just that you two are suddenly always at the same table at lunch, you're at the Youth Center together when we're not, you did that family project in home ec …"

"That was for school, I didn't ask to take care of a stupid baby doll for a week with Kat, I was assigned." He returned defensively.

The home economics teacher had randomly assigned couples to take care of a baby for a week in a program designed to teach them about running a household, but also in an effort to make teens more aware of how hard and how much responsibility having children was; hopefully curbing the skyrocketing teenage pregnancy rate in the city. It was a lame assignment that had taken up nearly all his free time after school the week before and had-had Kat yapping at him that he needed to take longer turns caring for a plastic baby she mortifyingly named Tommy Jr, his uncle's pit crew manager barking at him that he was late and unfocused, and the pit crew laughing at him for playing with dolls; not to mention the damn thing had gotten scorched in a monster attack and the teacher had taken 10 points off their final grade for child endangerment.

"Yeah but then earlier today you were both here at Ernie's together…"

"She showed up, I was already here working on my stuff." Tommy defended. "What was I supposed to do, tell her to go away? She's the new girl on the team and I'm the leader."

"…and then after the monster attack she was saying how much she was looking forward to going to watch you practice driving at the track next week…"

"I invited all of you." He countered.

Rocky paused and gave his friend a bland look that bordered on impatient. "All I'm saying is that people are talking."

"Who's talking?" Tommy demanded, genuinely angry. That was all he needed, especially if Kim ever found out people were talking and speculating about him and another girl. He knew he wasn't the only one emailing her from Angel Grove.

He loved her beyond reason, but if he was going to be honest, he had to admit that it hadn't been as easy as he thought it would be to stay faithful while she was away… well, it was because he loved her, but he also had to work really hard at reminding himself that he loved her and playing around wasn't acceptable. He supposed, in an ideal world, staying faithful shouldn't be challenging or difficult, but it was and that was just life. The problem was, he was spoiled. He was used to having sex on a regular basis and genuinely missed it. There were a lot of girls, both at school and older ones at the track, that gave him plenty opportunity to have a little fun behind her back, but he'd been really, really good and was really, really proud of how good he'd been and how many opportunities he'd passed on in the name of being a faithful boyfriend. It seriously pissed him off to suddenly still be accused of not behaving; it wasn't fair.

"Even the Rangers have noticed." Rocky supplied, giving him a look that suggested there was more to the story that the other boy wasn't disclosing.

"Noticed what? Nothing's going on." He insisted. What the hell was the point of being good, he wondered angrily to himself, if you still got accused of being bad? He would know, he reasoned with himself, and he was the one who'd have to face Kim when she came back home…because she was definitely coming home and they were definitely going to be together again.

"Well then, if nothing's going on, stop getting defensive." Rocky replied, voice getting a little edgier as the white Ranger's voice increased in volume.

"I'm not defensive." Tommy nearly yelled. "You're standing there accusing me of cheating on my girlfriend when nothing could be further from the truth."

"No I'm not. I'm just saying you're hanging out with Kat a lot…all the time actually…and she's all moony and giddy and flirty around you…people are talking."

"There's absolutely nothing to talk about." Tommy pronounced in a hard tone. "I was trying to help Kat adjust to being the new person on the team and then we had one school assignment together, that's all."

"Well then you better make sure Kat knows that. It was only a year ago that Kim was the new girl on the team and you were just trying to be nice and help her fit in…and we both know how that ended up."

* * *

Kim didn't have nearly as far to go as she thought she would. The soft blue glow of the transport portal led her directly to the communal showers down the hall. The light it emitted was like the light of a swimming pool, bouncing soft blue waves across the opening to the room and across the long walls. It was completely dark all around her; every door locked, everyone in the building sound asleep.

She paused only long enough to tie the laces of her boots, then made quick progress through the doorway and faced the mouth of the portal head on. It seemed to pulsate, to pull inward and then outward as if breathing. It was nothing like the portals that Thomas had created when she traveled with him and also wasn't really like the portal K had created to transport the team across dimensions. The difference made her pause a little, but she had known it was coming and reasoned any differences would probably have originated with its creator and the uniqueness of what she was being called on to do.

She stepped cautiously forward, ready and yet guarded. Transport portals were always a little disconcerting. You never knew how fast they'd pull you, how long they'd last, or how hard you'd land on the other side. Just as she found her nerve and was about to propel herself inside, a strong hand reached out and grabbed her, firmly pulling her out of the opening.

"Are you crazy?" Carri hissed in a harsh whisper. "What the hell is that?"

"What are you doing?" Kim exclaimed in surprise, completely forgetting to be quiet. "Go back to bed, you can't be in here, the portal might…"

But it was too late. The edges of the portal, seemingly frustrated by its passenger's reluctance to be underway, reached out and encompassed both girls; surrounding them in its liquid blue light and then propelling them unceremoniously inside.


	7. Chapter 7: Phaedos

Power Rangers: The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning

Chapter 6: Phaedos

* * *

_Disclaimer: The Power Rangers belong to SABAN. Dulcea and Phaedos belong to Fox. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks for the loan of such a fabulous character. Cerlina is also KJ's and a grown up version of her (spoiler alert if you look) is featured in her series "Return to Action." Some of the dialog in this chapter was also copied from an actual series episode, which I didn't write._

_Everything else is from my imagination._

* * *

The two girls landed unceremoniously in a tangle on unforgiving shoreline and at a strong enough velocity to send them both bouncing and spinning across the rocks beneath them. They groaned audibly as they finally came to a stop, panting for breath and unwilling to move in case they accidentally discovered something was broken or bleeding or worse.

"Are you insane?" Kim yelled out irritably, eyes still closed, head pounding unmercifully where it had hit the rocky beach. "Never, ever, try and grab someone out of a transportation portal."

Carri didn't answer at first, she was too discombobulated to form the words. She'd been transported once or twice by the Rangers, but the beam that had swallowed them inside the dormitory showers wasn't anything like what she'd experienced before. It felt like a rough, out of control free fall where you were terrified your chute wasn't going to open and then suddenly, without warning, it somehow miraculously did, but ripped the breakfast from your stomach in the process. She was thrilled to be on solid ground, grateful to be alive, and completely pissed off that her legs were shaking in terror. Opening her eyes, she spied the faint outline of not one, but two moons in the dim twilight and realized with a completely sinking feeling that she wasn't on her home planet anymore. Forcing herself into a sitting position, she came face to face with the hideous, decaying remains of an alien skeleton; further confirming her suspicions.

"Something tells me we're not in Kansas anymore Toto." She replied in what she'd intended to be a brash, sardonic tone, but in reality came out far more shaky and unsure.

"Really? Ya think?" Kim responded in an unusually grouchy manner as she pulled herself up and surveyed their surroundings.

She'd been to the same beach twice before, once with her original team and then the last time with the Rangers of her adopted world. The seascape was as beautiful and ethereal as she remembered, but she was also very much aware that it was almost sunset and the serene seascape literally wouldn't remain peaceful after dark. "We need to get moving." She advised. "It won't be safe here once the sun sets."

"Move where?" Carri asked, following her friend's lead and forcing herself to stand up. She felt like she'd just been in an overly intense sparring match without pads, her body bruised and her joints rebelling in places she hadn't known had been hit.

"The temple." Her friend replied, turning and striding confidently toward the cliff-side as if she knew exactly where she was going and as if the other girl would understand her. "Maybe Dulcea can figure out how to send you home."

"You want to tell me what's going on?" Carri asked tetchily, annoyed by her friend's uncharacteristic temper, but falling into step with her instead of waiting where she was for a response.

"You disrupted a transportation portal designed to arc time and transport me into the Phaedosian past. We didn't land where we were supposed to and now I'm worried we could either be in the wrong time or in the wrong dimension." She responded gruffly without looking back.

"I thought I was rescuing you." Carri responded testily. Being wrong was never a position she enjoyed being in, but being wrong after assuming she was doing the right thing and then getting bitched at for it made the sting ten times worse. "Next time I'll just let you fall into some unknown glowing blob all by yourself to whatever doom awaits you."

"That would be appreciated." Kim called back, already beginning her climb up the steep cliff. She knew her friend hadn't meant to do any harm, but she hadn't wanted to go to Phaedos in the first place and now everything was more messed up than before. She was annoyed and cranky and very frustrated, as well as slightly panicked that they could be in serious trouble if they were in the wrong time zone or dimension.

"Fine." Carri shot back, following as best she could in her bare feet and wishing she had more clothing than her thin pajamas to combat the chill wind that blew in from the sea. "How was I supposed to know? I thought I was helping you."

"You know I'm a Ranger Carri." Kim returned as she balanced and pulled her way upward.

"You're a retired Ranger." The other girl volleyed "You don't have your powers anymore, how was I supposed to know Rita wasn't trapping you again? You have a really unique tendency to get yourself into trouble, you know that?"

"I have a tendency to get into trouble?" Kim fired back, turning as she pulled herself over the cliff face and reaching out to give her friend a hand up. "You're the one who constantly gets caught up in Ranger affairs when you're not supposed to."

"So this is a Ranger thing?" Carri countered, dark eyes black and cantankerous.

"Not exactly." Her friend answered, giving her an odd look before turning and heading down a well-traveled trail through the thick jungle that seemed to appear from nowhere.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Carri pressed as she fell in line behind her friend. It didn't dawn on her to question where they were going or how her friend knew the way to go; she just simply went.

"Let's just get you to the temple, find out what time and dimension we've landed in, and see if Dulcea can get you home." She answered, marching at a brisk pace that she knew would be difficult for her friend to keep up with without shoes, but determined to reach the safety of the temple ring before dark.

"Kim, what's going on?" Carri demanded, stopping in her tracks then quickly catching up again when it became obvious the other girl was simply going to keep going. Reaching out to grab her arm, she pulled them both to a full stop. "What's going on?" She insisted.

"This is hard enough on me as it is, ok?" He friend replied, all of the anger and frustration suddenly dropping from her tone. "I'm scared. I don't want to be here, but I have to be, ok? Let me just focus on our main problem right now, which is that you're not supposed to be here and I'm not sure what effect your presence in the portal had on us. This jungle is full of predators, if we don't make it to the temple before sunset, I don't have any powers to keep us from being some weird alien dinosaur's dinner. Good enough?"

"Yeah, good enough." Carri answered back, although she had far more questions popping through her head that needed answers. "For now anyway."

* * *

Tommy flopped on his bed in frustration, not sure what he wanted to do. He was upset with Rocky's comment that he was spending too much time with Katherine Hillard and not sure how to defend himself or what to do about it. On the one hand, Kat needed a great deal of coaching and encouraging where being a Ranger was concerned. She was learning quickly and doing perfectly fine, but it was obvious that she was the new kid and he felt a huge pressure to help her through her inexperience and hesitancy just as Jason had helped him adjust to the team a few years before. That's what a good leader did, he helped his team adjust and work well together. On the other hand, if the Rangers had the wrong impression, so would his girlfriend, and he certainly didn't want Kimberly thinking he was fooling around on her.

It was a catch twenty-two. If he pulled back and distanced himself from the new pink Ranger, then what kind of a leader was he? What kind of an example was he setting? If he didn't, then that would just confirm everyone's opinion that he was cheating, which could prove disastrous if Kim found out. Kimberly was already insecure and jealous of the other girl. He understood, he really did, the Tommy on her world had been in love with the blond Australian and he could appreciate how that would make her apprehensive, but he wasn't his alternate, he was him, and he loved Kimberly, not Katherine.

He honestly didn't think the new pink Ranger was flirting with him; not really anyway. He genuinely thought that she was just feeling insecure as the new girl and was looking to him for a little support until she found her feet in the strange new role she'd found herself in.

Rangering wasn't fun and games and excitement. It was hard work, damned scary, and very dangerous. The Rangers got hurt every time they went out into battle, sometimes seriously, and he could recognize the signs that Katherine was just beginning to fully realize what she'd committed herself to. All of them were putting their lives on the line and willing to die to defend their world. He didn't think she'd really realized that going in. She was determined to step up to the challenge, had swallowed her fears and fought bravely, which he was very proud of her for, but he didn't think she really enjoyed what she was doing. To complicate things, the last few weeks of battles hadn't been hard at all. Goldar seemed to have stepped back and, for some unknown reason, Rito had taken the lead. He doubted Zedd would allow that to continue and worried about how the new pink would handle things once the attacks went back to their previous level of intensity. Off the field she was just a little too needy, didn't recount her experiences with the same enthusiasm the others did, was just a little too quick to need to go wash up and change afterward.

A deep frown crossed his forehead as he stared at the ceiling and tried to mull through his thoughts. He liked Katherine, he honestly did, and, if he was honest with himself, if he didn't have the promise that Kimberly was coming back, he probably might try for something a little more than simple friendship. The blond girl had the most stunning blue eyes he'd ever seen on a female and no guy, he didn't care how committed they were, could deny that she filled out pink spandex in ways that should be just plain illegal for a sixteen, almost seventeen year old. She had a pretty voice, was the sweetest, gentlest girl he'd ever met, and she smelled…

He stopped, forcing his mind completely blank and refusing to go there. He had the most beautiful girl in the universe waiting for him and that was that. Kimberly was already his and he was very content. The former pink was far more compatible with him than anyone he'd ever known. They had more than just a physical attraction in common; they could talk about anything, understood one another, had common goals.

Besides, things were looking up. Instead of having to wait seventeen more months for her to turn eighteen and nineteen months for him to turn eighteen, she would be home for senior year in just ten months; almost half the time. He could wait ten months. Ten months was nothing.

Sighing heavily, he blew out the excess stress he was under and tried to calm his mind. He missed his girlfriend desperately. He had totally taken for granted having her close by. He missed having her to talk to when he was stressed or feeling insecure, he missed that added confidence of knowing she had his back in battle, and he desperately missed the sex.

The sex was the hardest thing to give up. He'd become active at a ridiculously young age and it was just one of those things that he'd never really thought about denying himself. Before the Alternate had come into his life, he and Jason had never suffered a shortage of willing girls when the mood struck them and afterward he'd been completely content to be monogamous. Now however, there was a whole continent and an ocean between him and his only permissible partner and it wasn't like she would be sympathetic if he went back to having a one night stand here and there with someone else. He missed her; he seriously missed her.

Sighing heavily again, he sat up and turned his thoughts back to the problem at hand. Rocky was a red Ranger and, even if he'd never really led the team, he was still a very capable second in command. The best thing for him to do was to turn Katherine over to him. Rocky would be able to guide her and let her lean on him until she found her feet and then he would be able to detach and step back a little; put a little space between them.

There was hope that Kim would be coming home for Christmas to visit her dad and her family; he'd just have to put his head down and hang on to that. Feeling somewhat better, he stood and left his room in search of any leftovers his mom might have left in the refrigerator.

* * *

"Welcome Kimberly and Carri." Dulcea called warmly as the two girls entered the stone ruins of the old temple and approached her by the fire.

"You know my name?" Carri asked in confusion, forehead knotting and automatically on guard and wary.

"K mentioned you might arrive with Kimberly." The master warrior acknowledged, giving her a welcoming smile. "But I was expecting you early tomorrow morning, not this evening."

"But Carri wasn't supposed to come." Kim countered hesitantly, looking between her friend and the master warrior. "She didn't know what was happening and tried to pull me out of the portal, instead it swallowed both of us and threw us out on the beach."

"Interesting." Dulcea replied, frowning a little and regarding the girl seriously.

K had mentioned that she wanted the young Carri included in the training, but she wasn't sure what the final decision had been until the girl walked up to her. K thought that she might ground the young Kimberly, be a good and strong influence on her as her powers matured. She had also thought it prudent to train the more contentious Hillard descendant on Phaedos, before she ever became a Ranger, to help her mature and be more ready for her future. What that future was, however, the time guardian hadn't decided to confide.

"It doesn't matter," She assured the girls, indicating they should sit and join her by the campfire. "She's here now and both of you are still in time to begin your training with the other acolytes."

"What training?" Carri asked hesitantly.

* * *

"You married Lord Zedd!" Master Vile fumed, his temper rising as he argued with his stubborn and wayward daughter. She was his pride and joy, a true daddy's girl and the only one among any of his worthless children who'd managed to accomplish something for herself. "You couldn't have married someone with a skull?"

"I may not have a skull, but I've captured the great Ninjor!" Zedd declared, striding into the chamber with his entourage and interrupting what was supposed to have been a private conversation.

He didn't like the idea that his father in law had come for a visit. He liked being married to his wife, although he still wasn't entirely sure why, and he knew her father was going to try and talk her into leaving him. That was why he'd put so much of his efforts into ingratiating himself with the evil warlord, which meant learning his plans and how to be of the greatest assistance. It had taken nearly a month of leaving his inept brother-in-law in charge while he and Goldar figured it out, but it had been worth every moment for the look on Vile's face. Why his father in law needed the senile old wizard was still a mystery, but he had been the one to discover his location and he would be the one who got all the credit for it.

"What do you have to say now?" He added triumphantly.

"I don't believe it." Vile replied, stunned and, grudgingly, a little impressed with his son in law. He'd been after Ninjor's secret location for nearly eight thousand years and, although he'd come close many times, the elusive old ninja master had always eluded him.

"But it's true dad, look!" Rito piped up, stumbling forward past his brother in law with a blue urn precariously balanced in his boney fingers. Unfortunately, as could probably have been predicted, he tripped and the urn went flying from him; shattering into a thousand pieces on the stone floor. "Oh no!" He moaned as the ever present fog of the palace swirled around the broken pottery.

"Aha! I'm free at last!" A tiny, miniaturized version of Ninjor crowed victoriously in a dramatically sing song voice which sounded suspiciously like Marvin the Martian. "You'll never catch me now!" He sang theatrically, then made a hasty exit.

"You miserable excuse for as offspring." Vile growled as the small Ninjor took off at a full run and disappeared into the mist. "How could you let him get away?"

"Gee pop, I'm sorry, it just happened." Rito replied, shrugging his boney shoulders like a dolt and not entirely sure he remembered where he was or what he was supposed to be doing.

"Go get him!" Vile roared and Rito, suddenly remembering the tiny wizard running around on the floor, pounced unsuccessfully, landing in a huge pile of bones as the little version of Ninjor slipped easily away from him.

"That little twerp is essential to my master plan." Vile bemoaned. For a moment, and only a moment, he actually believed he might be close to achieving the impossible, only to be thwarted by his own miserable son. It was the boy's mother's fault, she'd been just as dense and completely hollow; literally.

"What would that be my dreaded father?" Rita asked, watching and wincing as her brother unsuccessfully tried to capture the tiny sorcerer running in circles around the room. She wasn't entirely sure who was more inept, her brother or the renowned old sage.

"Let's just say it involves a certain crystal." Vile elaborated. "The Zeo crystal to be exact."

"Aha!" Ninjor crowed theatrically as he suddenly, and for no reason that anyone could figure, finally grew to his full size; causing Rito, Baboo, and Squatt to collide and fall helplessly into a heap at his feet. "The Zeo crystal will never be yours Vile!" He declared.

"Seize him!" Vile roared, but just as Goldar decided he'd had enough of the incompetence around him and decided to intervene, Rito decided to move his boney leg outward under the swirling mists and he tripped, losing his footing and falling onto the pile of subordinates as well.

"Bye-bye." Ninjor called in his sing song, cartoonish voice, and simply disappeared.

* * *

"So let me get this straight." Carri said as they walked with Dulcea up a narrow path toward a massive tree that seemed to be growing over several ancient stone buildings. They had dressed in local garments that were only slightly less revealing than the master warrior's scanty garb and, while she was all for bikinis on the beach, the little leather outfit made her feel more than a little uncomfortable as they walked through the juggle of the strange world. "We're here for two weeks, then the portal will open and take us home and drop us off less than two minutes from the time we left?"

"Exactly." Dulcea responded patiently. "Have faith Carri, the universe and all its possibilities are only now just opening their wonders to you."

"You don't have to do this Carri." Kim added. "No one asked you, you just fell into it. You can stay with Dulcea for the two weeks we're here and then…"

"But this is where the Ranger's ninja powers came from right?" Carri interrupted. It had been an interesting night, full of wonderful answers to all kinds of questions, but she still wasn't entirely certain that she understood what was really going on.

"Ninjetti." Dulcea corrected gently. "There is a very big difference which you will learn to appreciate when the time comes. No Carri, although you will learn the ways of the Ninjetti along with the other acolytes, the powers the Rangers on your world possess are not something that one can simply learn. You will be training with those among our youth who wish to become warriors of Phaedos, protectors of the Great Power; a sacred right to our people. Many will begin the process, but few will ever see their aspirations come to fruition."

"But that's still related to the Rangers right?" She asked. She honestly wasn't sure why Kim, who was already a Ranger and had already had the Ninjetti powers, would come back and start all over again, but if it was important enough for her to secretly train with them via a time portal so that no one found out, then she wanted in as well. With any luck, she'd be the best candidate for the job the next time an opening in the Rangers came around.

"Only in the sense that Zordon sent me here." Kim answered hesitantly. She wasn't sure at all about this turn of events. If Carri stayed, then she might learn about Kemora's possession of her, that she wasn't really her world's Kimberly at all, but an imposter sent to patch and unstable timeline.

"Those who finish will realize a similar destiny." Dulcea clarified. "The warriors of Phaedos are champions of the Great Power, just as the Rangers you know are, but you will find there are many ways in which the Power will call to you into its service. Becoming a Ranger is but one of many possibilities."

"Well…" Carri replied, thinking it over. "It seems like that's exactly what I've wanted to do. I mean, all I've been able to think about since last year is helping the Rangers and being one of them."

"Then I commend you for your dedication and would hope that this is the beginning of a lifelong journey for you." The master warrior returned with an amused smile. "For now though, this is where I leave you. The Spirit Academy has many rules and I'm afraid I wouldn't be doing you any favors by showing you favoritism. Remember, neither or you are to mention your associations to me, to Zordon, or the Rangers while you are here and neither of you are to mention your training or the existence of this academy while you are away from Phaedos."

As both of them nodded solemnly in understanding, she added. "Good luck girls, may the Power protect you."

"Do you have a second?" Kat asked hesitantly as Tommy looked up from his homework.

"Yeah, I guess." He answered, looking cautiously around the crowded juice bar to see if anyone was watching them. He'd purposely picked the smallest table in the farthest corner, the one with only one chair.

She smiled at him shyly, then, looking around, spied an empty chair and carried it over to his table. If she noticed the groan he tried to stifle, she didn't say anything, but she did notice him looking around the room again.

"Are you expecting someone?" She asked, forehead crinkling a little and following his eyes.

"No." He returned nervously. "No, it's ok, I was just checking to see if the others were around."

"Rocky and Adam are at baseball practice." She offered, "And Aisha's studying for her biology test…I think Billy's in the Power chamber helping Alpha."

She paused when he only nodded, waiting expectantly for her to say something. She felt a little awkward and hoped her nervousness didn't show too much. She'd worn her best school outfit, had taken extra time with her hair and makeup, and had even swiped some of the perfume her cousin had left behind, but instead of drawing his interest, he seemed to be blatantly avoiding her and she wasn't sure why.

"Uhm," She began uncertainly, twisting her fingers around in her lap nervously. "I wanted to ask you…I mean, I… well…"

"What?" He asked, frowning uncomfortably as she paused and looked up at him like a little lost kitten.

"I know this might sound silly, but, well…" She paused again, then sped forward, her words tripping over themselves. "Well today it sort of seems like you're, well, that you don't, I mean…have I done something to make you mad at me?"

"No." He answered automatically, his head shaking back and forth and a little guilty pout forming around his mouth. "No, you're fine. I'm not mad at you."

"That's good." She sighed heavily, smiling brightly and relaxing in her chair. "Because it just sort of seemed that you were, I don't know…avoiding me today."

"I'm really busy today." He replied lamely, although that wasn't exactly true and he felt really guilty about saying it.

"Oh." She answered. "Well then I won't…"She began, then stopped mid-sentence as both their communicators chirped simultaneously.

* * *

Kim and Carri approached the Spirit Temple at a slow pace, Carri taking her cues from her friend and adopting a non-concerned attitude as they strode up the tiny path, oblivious to the young teen girls that stopped their chores to stare at them. Not all of them were dressed as scantily as they were, which made her a little more self-conscious than she'd previously been, but they weren't the only ones in leather bikinis.

"Well, well…and what do we have here?" A tall blond girl, who was perhaps a little older than they were, asked them as she stepped directly in their way to prevent their progress. She was dressed similarly to everyone else, with a short leather skirt and halter-top, but she also sported a long necklace of some sort of reptilian teeth and balanced a long, intricately carved staff in her hand.

"Greetings." Kim replied evenly, taking in the girl's haughty attitude and derisive looks and deciding to be blunt and to the point. "We're here to see Durla."

"You think that you can just walk up here from the jungle and ask to see a master warrior?" The girl asked them snidely, her posture challenging.

"That's what I was instructed to do." Kim answered, unflinching. The other girl was older, taller, but very egotistical and smug; reminding her of Scorpina. She'd seen her type before. She was queen bee among the underlings and knew it.

"Well then you're an ignorant fool." She spat. She twirled her staff around in an impressive display of various techniques, then slapped it to a loud stop against the palm of her hand. "You're trespassing." She hissed in a deadly tone. "Now run away, back into the jungle, before you get hurt."

"I'm not armed." Kim answered smoothly, unimpressed by the display "I've come here in good faith and friendship. I've offered you no reason to strike me. Is that what they teach you here? To use your powers to bully those who mean you no harm?"

"You little…" The other girl snarled, swinging her staff as if to strike her, but Kim was quicker. She used the momentum of the attack to counter it and sent the other girl flying past her. The girl hissed in outrage and would have turned to strike again, but a sharp reprimand froze them both in place.

The girls watched as an older, but not yet middle aged woman walked steadily down the path. "Explain yourselves." She barked unsympathetically.

"They trespass on sacred ground." The blond girl hissed, surprising Carri and Kim with the intensity of her rage.

"I'm Kimberly." Kim responded, giving the older woman a respectful bow of her head, "My friend is Carri. We were told to follow this path and ask for Durla."

"I am Durla." The older woman announced brusquely, eyes hard and unforgiving. "We have no tolerance here for those who incite needless violence against our students. What have you to say for your actions?"

"I would say I think I might be in the wrong place." Kim surprised Carri by responding calmly, her eyes meeting those of the old woman and holding them firmly. "I was told I would find a place of honor here, where those who serve the Great Power educate themselves in its ways. Not a place where strangers are unfairly blamed for the transgressions of others. "

"How dare you." The other woman countered. "I know who you are, what you are…the spawn of evil, nothing more. Within seconds of your arrival, violence erupts around you. Be gone demon, we have nothing for you here."

Kim was obviously effected by the woman's words, although why she didn't deny them baffled Carri. Outraged, she spoke up, "Your student, or whatever she is, attacked us for no reason. All we did was introduce ourselves."

"You were not asked." Durla replied in a harsh tone.

"Durla!" Another voice called, and both girls raised their eyes to see a long line of older women, presumably teachers and masters, approaching. "You were told to welcome Kimberly and her friend when she arrived, see them both to their living quarters, and inform me when they were ready to begin their training. Is this how you carry out your instructions?"

"Within seconds of her arrival, she incited…"

"She defended herself against your apprentice's unwarranted attack." The other woman countered. "Your apprentice made the first aggressive move, not the new girls." She emphasized, "I saw all from my practice range, as did my students; as did those in the watch towers."

"Cerlina!" Another of the teachers barked harshly, moving past the other women and turning angry eyes on the blond girl who had attacked them. "You disgrace yourself and you disgrace this academy. Two hundred hours in the service of the grounds keepers should teach you that you are not nearly as self-important as you believe. "

Carri stole a cautious look at the girl, who was obviously seething, but she bowed stiffly in acceptance and didn't fight back. "Yes Master Oren." She replied stiffly.

"I am Master Florde." The first of the new women spoke up, turning to the new girls with a welcoming and slightly apologetic look. "Head of the Spirit Academy."

In response Kim bowed in both acknowledgement and respect and Carri mimicked her actions, wondering what was going on and what the ramifications on them might be later. The one named Cerlina was giving them a look that she knew very well, a look that said retribution would be coming very soon. The one named Durla was also going to be a problem. If she was one of the teachers, then they were both in deep trouble.

"Welcome Kimberly." Florde said formally, "Welcome to your friend Carri as well."

"Thank you." Kim replied in the same tone. "It is an honor for us to be here."

"I will take charge of you directly from here on out." Master Florde advised, giving Durla a look that clearly said she was not to interfere. "From now on, you will look to Master Oren and then to me, not Durla for your directions. For now though, I will show you to your dwelling. My apprentice is Werline, she will be your mentor and your direct superior. I will send her to you and she will explain your first duties." With that, she turned and made a slight motion with her hand for the girls to follow her. "Come girls, there is much to do before your training begins on the morrow."

"You know what?" Carri whispered as she caught up to her friend and they fell in line behind their new teachers. "For someone who was the most popular girl in Angel Grove High, you have a distinctly unique talent for making people hate you."

* * *

"Zordon, you called us?" Tommy asked as, one by one, all the Rangers appeared in the Power Chamber.

"Rangers," Zordon greeted from his tube. "I'm afraid we have a very serious situation. Before you is Ninjor, a great and venerable master of the Power. He has just presented me with some disturbing news."

"What is it?" Tommy asked, brow furling and stepping into a stance that told his mentor he was ready to hear the challenge awaiting him.

"Master Vile has devised a fiendish plot." Ninjor began in an over-the-top and very worried voice. "He wants…the Zeo crystal." He finished with great flourish.

"This is just as I suspected." Zordon announced solemnly, nodding his head.

"What's the Zeo Crystal?" Katherine asked, frowning and turning her pretty blue eyes upward. She wasn't entirely sure what she thought of Ninjor. Zordon had called him a great and venerable master of the Power, but he seemed kind of creepy to her.

"Rangers," Zordon explained, drawing their attention back to him. "The Zeo crystal is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. It…"

"Thousands of years ago," Ninjor explained with breathless drama, interrupting him and taking center stage again, "The people of galaxy M-51 hid it from Master Vile, deep inside the Caves of Deception. They then placed a force field around the crystal, preventing anyone who was not completely pure of heart from even touching it."

"We can't take the chance that Vile will get to it." Tommy interjected, somehow instinctively knowing what Zordon was about to ask of them. Like the others, he wasn't entirely sure what to make of Ninjor. He'd been a Ranger long enough to know that you're allies were often not what you'd expect, but Ninjor seemed a little…he wasn't entirely sure. "Where are the Caves of Deception?" He asked, thinking maybe he'd feel a little better about things if he could plot a course of action.

"I'm afraid that they're on the moon itself, directly beneath Rita and Zedd's palace." Zordon answered solemnly, nodding as the teens gasped in unison.

"As you know, Zedd took over the alien palace above the caves." Ninjor explained. "His evil corrupted the good in the palace, but cannot destroy the pure good in the caverns below."

"We thought the crystal would be safe from Zedd." Zordon continued. "But Master Vile is much older and infinitely wiser in the ways of evil. Further, the crystal's power increases with time. If Master Vile acquires the Zeo crystal for his own, he could rule the entire universe."

"We're ready Zordon." Tommy assured him and the other teens nodded in agreement. "Tell us what we need to do."


	8. Chapter 8: Lost and Found

Power Rangers: The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning

Chapter 8: Lost and Found

* * *

_Disclaimer:__ The Power Rangers belong to SABAN. Dulcea and Phaedos belong to Fox. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks for the loan of such a fabulous character. Cerlina is also KJ's and a grown up version of her (spoiler alert if you look) is featured in her series "Return to Action." Several scenes from the Command Center and Rita's Palace contain dialog which has been pretty much copied verbatim from an actual series episode, which I didn't write and don't take credit for, and as usual, I've thrown PR cannon out the window again. _

_Everything else is from my imagination._

* * *

**Author's note: If you like the Alternate and The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning, then check out my book, **

**Sentinel Dawn: Journey Into Midnight available now for download on Kindle and in print form at Amazon com ISBN-13: 978-1461028109**

* * *

Kim surveyed the huge workout fields evenly as the master instructors began the long and arduous process of determining the new ranking of the acolytes for the beginning of the new term. Rank among the students was not a solid thing, but fluid and very moving. Just because you passed a test didn't mean you automatically passed to the next level. A series of ribbons and tokens, mostly shells or carved ivory or wood, had to be earned in order to pass up the many levels, but once earned, they could be taken away again if you forgot something or the masters felt you didn't deserve it anymore. Since both she and Carri were new to the compound, they had to start at the very beginning, with no tokens, and earn their way up as fast as they could throughout the day to determine their place.

They had been taken to an area far off to one side with a very flat and even meadow of cropped greenish blue grass and delicate spring flowers. There were very few other girls in this area, but it didn't take a genius like Billy to realize that the secluded alcove not only offered a sheltered place that would keep novices focused, but a thick padded ground to absorb the impact of falling as the acolytes were instructed in basic techniques. One by one, each of the girls, who's ages seemed to range anywhere from about ten through to their mid-twenties, were shown a basic, elementary technique and asked to repeat it as the master watched.

"Even I can pass this round." Carri muttered under her breath and Kim smiled softly, nodding in agreement.

The first arena wasn't all that difficult. It was obviously for very young students and the lessons being taught were more theology than anything hands on. She equated it a bit to a long, drawn out, and over extended version of Zordon's very brief instruction to use her powers only for defense lecture.

"I'm bored." Her friend moaned, shifting in her seat and obviously having trouble sitting still.

"Focus on the task at hand." Kim advised softly. "I guarantee you, you won't be bored for long."

Carri nodded in silent agreement. She'd already caught glimpses of the other rings and knew this was probably the last round she and Kim would be stationed together. Her friend was already a Power Ranger, already had enough experience to pass through most of the fight drills, but Carri was still a novice in Rocky and Tommy's karate class and didn't think she'd perform all that well in a matchup with someone who had a different style and was out to trip her up. The idea of proving her skills against people she'd never sparred against daunted her a bit, but she refused to let it intimidate her. She was here to learn how to be a Power Ranger and that's exactly what she was going to do.

Still, Phaedos was obviously not Earth. Everything from the two moons overhead to the smell of the bluish green grass was different. She was completely out of her element and until her skills were assessed and her group assigned, little butterflies of fear and doubt fluttered around in her stomach. As far as she was concerned, this "skills placement day" of theirs couldn't end fast enough.

* * *

"Rocky!" Tommy called as he spied his friend in the park, picking up his pace to catch up with the other boy.

"Have we heard anything about the Falcon Zord?" The red Ranger asked anxiously, stopping his progress and turning as his friend approached.

"No, not yet." Tommy admitted, shaking his head and allowing his shoulders to slump a little. He still couldn't believe he'd lost his zord to Rita and Zedd, the idea was unfathomable, but at the moment there was very little they could do about it except wait for the right opportunity to take it back. "I have something else I really needed to talk to you about though, if you have a second."

"Sure, what's up?" His friend asked, walking over to a park bench and sitting down.

"It's uh…" He began, sitting down next to his friend and hesitating a second as he thought through what he wanted to say. He liked Rocky, counted him as a good friend, a good teammate, and knew he was a capable red Ranger, but he couldn't help wishing Jason had been there instead. Jason was just as strong and experienced a leader as he was and wouldn't have had any problems taking over Kat's induction to the Rangers. Rocky could do it, but he'd just never been asked to before. "It's uhm, well…it's kind of complicated."

"I'm here for you, you know that." Rocky responded, wondering if the white Ranger was worrying over the loss of his zord and might need help or direction. Part of him was thrilled Tommy had actually sought him out. Since the Alternate's arrival, he'd felt more like he was third in command instead of second; not that he minded…much.

"It's Kat." Tommy admitted, feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

"Kat…" The red Ranger parroted, a little disappointed that the other boy was apparently after girl advice instead of Ranger advice.

"Yeah…" He admitted. "She kinda, well the truth is…"

"You think you like her after all?" Rocky offered hesitantly when his friend paused again. His friend had angrily denied it, but the two had been spending a lot of time together lately and all of them were wondering if maybe their fearless leader was ready to admit he was forgetting about his girlfriend.

"No!" Tommy squealed in protest, his voice climbing up several octaves. "I mean, I like her, she's really sweet and nice, it's just that…" He paused and took a deep breath, finally blurting out the crux of his concerns in one, run-together breath. "She's just really inexperienced."

"We all were at one point." Rocky reminded him, proving his leadership skills. "She'll get her bearings soon enough, she needs a little more practice, that's all. She's not a bad Ranger, she's just not as experienced as Kim was. I mean, when we started off with Kim, she brought a lot of talents and skills with her… from, you know… before. I think we all kinda took for granted that we never missed a beat." He added in a really low tone, hedging a little and choosing his words carefully. All the Rangers were forbidden to directly talk about the Alternate's exchange with their own Kimberly, but Rocky felt he needed to remind his leader that there was a real difference in play now and he hoped the white Ranger understood his meaning. In the course of a single year, they'd gone from a fairly decent, but flighty, pink Ranger, to a really strong pink Ranger, to a brand new and novice pink Ranger. All three were very different and Tommy needed to remember that. "Kat's a real newbie like Aisha and Adam and I were. It took us a while to settle in too, but in some ways I think Kat's stepped up and transitioned a lot better than we did."

"That's the thing." Tommy admitted, genuinely sorry to say it out loud. "I know she'll be fine, but in the meantime, she needs a lot of hand-holding. She's latched on to me, both on the field and off and I just…I can't." He admitted, a worried frown creasing his brow. Lowering his voice, he added in a soft whisper, "Kim's already really jealous of her, if people are talking, it's just a matter of time until she finds out. It's my job as leader to make sure Kat's a functioning part of this team, but allowing her to hang on to me all the time until she's comfortable with things… it won't go over with Kim … and you know she's gonna find out."

Rocky nodded in response, understanding his friend's dilemma and agreeing with him. Anytime a team member transitioned out and a new team member came in, there was going to be an adjustment period and he understood why Tommy would feel the need to support the new girl, but he was also right about his girlfriend not being happy about the amount of time he was spending outside the Rangers with Kat. It was a difficult situation. Kat didn't look at Tommy like someone looking to a leader for support, she looked at him like she wanted him to notice her and maybe turn his attention to her romantically.

"I was thinking, maybe," Tommy sputtered in a more normal volume, "If you're comfortable with it and all, maybe you could take over for me…I mean with Kat. Her training, you know, helping her get up to speed and all."

"Take over Kat?" He asked in confusion.

"Yeah, I mean, you're a red Ranger, you're second on the team, someone's got to help her until she finds her confidence. Master Vile is proving way harder than Zedd and she was having trouble when Rito was in charge. Things are revving up to full speed again, if she doesn't find her feet soon, the whole team will be in jeopardy. I can't be the one to guide her through this, I need to find someone else for her to lean on. Can you take her under your wing and help her a little until she can stand on her own?"

"Yeah, I guess." His friend replied hesitantly, simultaneously thrilled to be handed a leadership assignment and unsure his friend really appreciated what was really going on. Kat didn't need as much support as his friend seemed to think. Aside from being inexperienced and a little timid when she needed to assert herself and her ideas, she was a really good Ranger. Her problem was that she wanted the leader's notice. She wanted Tommy looking at her and paying her attention. It wasn't really a confidence thing that he could help her with, but he could easily find ways distract her and help keep her from having opportunities to flirt or appear needy. "I can handle it for you." He added with more confidence. "Don't worry."

"I knew I could count on you." Tommy said in genuine relief, his hand reaching out to briefly grasp and shake the other boy's shoulder comradely. "Now to focus on getting back the Falcon Zord."

As the two boys jumped up and proceeded back down the park walkway, neither of them noticed a certain pink Ranger close by, behind a tall tree. She'd taken a shortcut through the manicured woods when she'd seen Tommy on the opposite path, but had paused when she realized he was engaging Rocky in a private conversation. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but the conversation had been about her and when Rocky suggested that maybe Tommy liked her, she couldn't help edging forward to hear.

She couldn't hear everything they'd said, especially when Tommy whispered something, but she'd heard the important stuff and was completely crushed the white Ranger was pushing her off onto her cousin's boyfriend. In her mind, it confirmed that Tommy might somehow blame her for the loss of his zord and she swallowed hard to prevent the tears stinging in her eyes from falling down her face. There was really nothing either of them could have done to prevent its abduction, but she didn't have her own zord, Kimberly's wouldn't listen to her, and maybe he felt she'd hindered him by tagging along in his; she didn't know. One thing was for sure, she wasn't about to give him any more reasons to doubt her. She'd prove herself to be just as good a pink Ranger as Kim had been; he'd see.

* * *

Kim groaned audibly as Cerlina entered the dusty clay sparring ring. She'd managed to avoid the other girl for the entire morning and most of the afternoon, but she supposed it was inevitable that they'd be paired up eventually. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Master Florde and Master Oren look cautiously from her to someone on the opposite side of the arena, and assumed they were watching and gauging Master Durla's expression, but she didn't turn to look for herself.

This was the point where all her training as a Power Ranger would come into play. While Cerlina had been assigned to assist with the less experienced acolytes for most of the day and was still well within her peak ability, Kim had sparred her way through the ranks until she was physically exhausted and sore. It wasn't the first time she had fought against a fully charged combatant when she was near collapse, but this wasn't a matter of saving the world, it was a matter of passing a test.

Unwilling to allow her tired mind to trick her into believing this was any less important, she took a moment to close her eyes and steady her breathing. The Ninjetti were always in control of their body and always aware of everything around them. She steadied her heartbeat and stilled her mind, resetting for the challenge to come. She smelled the dust of the arena mixed with just a hint of blood from the previous matches, she smelled the crowd of onlookers who were tired and sweaty from their own excursions or the hot, setting sun. She heard the trees and other plants rustle softly in the breeze and she felt the instant the air currents moved in her direction; indicating Cerlina had attacked without bothering to wait for the standard pleasantries and show of respect that usually preceded a match.

Instantly, her staff raised and her eyes popped open, deflecting the attack. She caught Cerlina's stunned expression as her staff rebounded backward, but it was gone before the resounding crack of the wood and shocked gasp of the onlookers floated around the field.

Cerlina had gone for blood. Her attack was not one of an advanced acolyte testing the abilities of a lesser ranked student; it had been meant to immobilize and or kill her opponent. The sheer force of the rebound threw her backward and made her to stumble briefly before she regrouped, but this time Kim understood that this was no practice drill and her instincts had already shot into high gear.

Oren was outraged. Once again Durla's apprentice had overstepped the bounds of propriety and seriously broken the rules of the academy. This was simply to be the last match of the day, to see how far they could push Kimberly's extraordinary abilities, it was not meant to be a full scale assault. She had been adamantly against using Cerlina, knew the young acolyte was known to use excessive force and underhanded techniques, but she'd been overruled by those who supported Durla's argument that the young demon spawn had no place in their company. They assured Master Florde that Cerlina would restrain herself as was proper. All of them knew Kimberly was exhausted, knew that any kind of a full matchup and test of her abilities would need to wait for a time when both girls were at their peak. But even as she opened her mouth to call the match to a halt, she felt Florde's steady hand on her shoulder, silently ordering her to remain silent. Together, they watched as the two girls circled one another in preparation for attack; their eyes focused and intent.

Kim lost all awareness that she was on the practice field. She could feel Cerlina's hatred pouring towards her and wondered at it. She knew she'd embarrassed the other girl, had heard one of the other acolyte's whisper that she might be denied mastership for another term because of her hostile actions toward the newcomers, but she wasn't entirely sure she understood it. The other girl was looking at her the way Goldar used to, like he was taking perverted pleasure in facing her; anticipating the torturous and painful death he would soon inflict. The correlation helped focus her mind as she watched and waited for the other girl's next move. They circled each other warily for longer than they really should have and, for a moment, Kim speculated if the girl was all bravado and cheap shots, but when Cerlina's attack came, it came in earnest, and she quickly wondered if this would, indeed, be a fight to the death.

* * *

"Tommy, can I talk with you for a second?" Kat asked hesitantly, wringing her fingers a little in her nervousness.

"Uhm, sure…" He answered, looking guiltily around to see if anyone else in the library might notice the two of them together again.

"I'm really sorry if I've disappointed you somehow." She began, sitting down in the chair next to him. "As a Ranger I mean."

"Why would you think you've disappointed me?" He asked, brow creasing a little in confusion.

"Well, I mean, ever since we lost the Falcon Zord, you just seem…well it feels like you're avoiding me."

"No…" He answered uneasily, shaking his head. "Kat, it's not that, you're not diapoint…"

"I want you to know that I'll do much better." She interrupted. "I'll pull my weight, I promise. You won't have to worry about me hesitating and not knowing what to do, I'm going to study hard with Alpha and Billy and…"

"Kat hold on a second." Tommy interjected. "You're fine, you're doing just fine. I'd tell you if you weren't."

"Then why is Rocky suddenly saying I should come to him and not you if I have questions?" She asked, trying hard, but not succeeding, to steel her face against the prickly hurt she was feeling. She looked like a little lost kitten that had just been kicked to the curb and he groaned involuntarily and sank into his chair.

"Rocky's a red Ranger." He answered quietly, sitting up again and facing her. "He's second in command on the team and a very good leader. I've got my hands full with figuring out how to combat Master Vile and Rita and Zedd all at once; that's all it is. It's not anything you've done Kat, I just need time to focus on Vile."

"Are you certain?" She asked, chewing her lip uncertainly and not really believing him.

"I'm certain." He assured, heart pounding and hoping she believed it. She really was pretty, he realized, and all of a sudden he appreciated what a feminine aura she projected and how she was looking at him with her big blue eyes and how the others had come to the conclusion that there might be something going on. His girlfriend would kill him if she saw the way the other girl was looking at him; literally.

"Then we're still friends?" She asked hopefully.

"Of course we are." He answered adding mentally that he just had to make sure everyone knew they were just friends. He was going to have to be a lot more detailed in his emails to Kim, so she'd know how busy he was and that he and Kat were rarely together.

"Good." She replied with a sigh, some of the earlier fears and tensions exhaling with the heavy breath. "The others are at the Juice Bar, do you want to walk me over there?"

"Right now I need to finish my history paper." He answered, grinning a little to take the sting out of the rejection. Nervous sweat began to bead on his brow and he suddenly wished he was home and not in the library.

"But it's not due for at least two weeks." She protested, a little frown wrinkling her forehead.

"Who knows what the next two weeks is gonna bring." He answered truthfully. It wasn't just an excuse to keep his distance from the pretty blond girl, he honestly didn't know what Vile's next move was going to be and he had to make sure he wasn't distracted by school deadlines. "I need to finish this by tonight so I can put my full attention towards Vile and keeping him away from the Zeo crystal."

"I understand." She answered, the disappointment clear in her voice and in the uncertain little pout forming around her mouth. She understood Tommy was too nice to tell her to her face that she wasn't good enough, that she could stand in, but she'd never be able to replace Kimberly. She would show him he was wrong, that she could be just as brave, just as strong, and just as valuable as the former pink. At the very next opportunity he'd see she wasn't a liability, but a huge asset.

* * *

Carri was more than a little pleased with herself and it showed plainly in the cockiness of her stride as she headed toward the senior's amphitheater. She wasn't the slightest bit jealous that her friend had made it all the way up to the top of the mountain, both literally and figuratively. In fact, she was extremely proud of her. She knew what the others didn't, that Kim had been a Power Ranger. Even though she didn't have her powers anymore, it only stood to reason that she'd quickly rise to the top.

Carri, however, had never been a Ranger. She'd helped them out a few times, but she didn't fool herself into thinking she was actually one of them…yet anyway. She'd done phenomenally well and it pleased her to no end that the other girls were gibbering about her and putting her into the same league as Kim and a few others at the top of the pile. She'd been woefully ignorant of their written curriculum, couldn't even write the simplest of alphabet characters well enough for the masters to pass her, but she'd excelled in philosophy and debate and then even further in the battle rings themselves. She actually wasn't all that far behind her friend and, she rationalized to herself, it was pretty damn good to be mentioned in the same breath as an actual Power Ranger.

She had collected dozens of beads and tokens, displayed proudly on her belt and around her neck and on her new acolyte's staff, and was amazed and very pleased with her new status at the academy. As she marched up the hill to the senior's level to search out Kim, several girls followed her, eager to befriend her, and she almost felt as smugly confident as she had in her first days at Stone Canyon High School; when she'd reined as the social queen bee.

Almost though, didn't mean she'd allow herself to fall into that trap again. She knew all too well that queen bees were often full of hot air and could be quickly dethroned if their better than thou image was tarnished, and, in truth, she was really kind of over the whole high school pecking order anyway. She liked Kim's approach, 'I like who I am and I'm not going to pretend to be anything different just to make you like me.' She liked the way her friend talked to anyone and not just those on her social scene. She'd had almost a whole year's practice at it at Angel Grove, before they'd been shipped off to France, and it had not only opened her eyes to all kinds of people she'd never thought she'd be able to be friends with, like Billy and Aisha and even to some extent Bulk and Skull, but it had landed her a place on the inside with the Power Rangers themselves. She liked her new friends back in Angel Grove, liked them a whole lot better than the snobby set her mom had arranged for her to hang out with, and embraced her new philosophy whole heartedly with the girls around her now.

It was obvious that teenage girls, even on distant worlds far away from her own, were always teenage girls. Just like at home, there were the jocks, the outcasts, the airheads, the brainiacs, the sluts, the minions, and the prim donna queens. Her hard, no nonsense attitude and her ability to verbally put people back in their place instead of being put in her place by them, had quickly landed her a slot in the queen pack, even after earning the grudging respect of most of the jocks in the sparring ring, but she had shocked them to their cores by not locking into step with them. Instead, she spoke amiably and associated with everyone, even when warned by one of her "peers" that-that simply wasn't done, and had quickly drawn several very loyal and appreciative followers to her from several of the other groups.

Among them was a girl named Cocoa, who talked nonstop and never quite stopped bouncing, but who had an amazing encyclopedia of historical events inside what might otherwise have seemed a completely odd and socially oblivious brain, as well as Ona, who was pretty much her equal in the sparring ring but who was annoyingly vocal and whiny about how much she was suffering from the ban on male company. Since Carri was desperately missing her own boyfriend, she could completely relate to the other girl, but her own separation pangs didn't exactly seem to be on the same scale and Carri was beginning to understand how the other girl had fallen into the reputation of what might be considered, back on her own world anyway, a gothic slut.

The two girls seemed strange companions for her, but she was honestly enjoying their company. Cocoa had proven extremely helpful with the more academic side of the academy's training and when Carri casually asked if the other girl could possibly help her outside of class too, she had made such an excited squeal that many had stopped in their tracks to stare at her. Both of them had followed her all day, even after their own progression through the ranks had come to an end, and had enthusiastically cheered her on. Now, as the three marched up to the top of the hill, Cocoa chattered about the various legends associated with this building or that tree and even a faded marker alongside the road.

"Does she ever shut up?" Ona asked under her breath.

"I think she knows more about this place than some of the masters." Carri returned, although her own ears were ringing and weary from the constant noise. "In the ten minutes before class, she was able to rattle off enough facts to get me through to an intermediate antiquities class." She added in a confidential tone, although Cocoa was now chattering on another topic and completely oblivious that the other girls were talking about her. "If I can learn even a fraction of the lore she knows, just through osmosis, I figure it'll save me hours studying those damn scrolls."

"Good point." Ona conceded, looking over a the small blond girl with a new perspective. "Remind me to introduce you to Afari. She's a phenomenon when it comes to tracking. I only survived the pleb hunt last year because she knew how to hide our tracks and follow animals through the safe trails in the jungle."

"Pleb hunt?" Carri asked, stopping in her tracks. "What's a pleb hunt?"

"Oh the plebian hunt!" Cocoa squealed. "I know all about it. All the acolytes have to participate in it every year. It technically represents the great Ninjetti Quest through the jungles that Dulcea herself supposedly sends those seeking the Great Power on, although nobody actually ever comes back from those, if they even really exist. Some masters say they do and others say they're only legend, like the beast wars and the Pai Zhuq Academy on the other side of the planet, but if they're only a legend then why have the Warriors of Phaedos at all? I mean that's what they're supposedly guarding, right? Anyway, all the acolytes are taken deep into the jungle and have to find their way back before the masters hunt them down. If you reach the Great Tree here at the academy before they catch and net you, then you get a carved twig from its branches to wear around your neck. It's a very coveted totem since not many get them. Alaway got one just before she was taken into the master's ring last year and Cerlina almost got one three years in a row."

"And you survived it?" Carri asked the other girl questioningly when Cocoa paused for breath.

"I got this shell." Ona interjected proudly, lifting it for the other two to see. "I got farther than any of the other first year acolytes last year."

"Everyone survives." Cocoa clarified. "At least nobody's gotten really seriously hurt or killed in years and years…although it's not unheard of to get hurt or killed if you go the wrong way and wander into the wrong areas of the jungle and get attacked by the jungle beasts or something. Everyone has to study hard so they know what to do and then they have to complete as much as they can in order to earn a place back in the academy next year. Those that don't make it, at least to the ruins of the old temple, are sent back home because the masters figure they haven't learned anything and are un-teachable; like Kaas and Thrudy last year, they didn't even make it three minutes before they wandered into a Toucscub nest and had to be rescued…even I know how to avoid those. Everybody who makes it back gets a blue bead or a red bead or a shell or a tooth or a carved twig, depending on how far they get before they're caught. I got a blue bead."

"We make fun of blue beads." Ona added dryly, giving Carri a significant look from beneath her thick brown bangs.

"Well then." Carri responded, noticing how the other girl had suddenly gone unexpectedly silent and looked a little downcast. "If we all work together this year, maybe we'll all get an animal tooth or something."

"Cerlina has over a dozen teeth." Cocoa blurted out, not exactly encouraged by Ona's horrified look when Carri mentioned working together. She was well aware her earlier offer to help hadn't been extended to her.

"She's been here that long?" Carri asked, her forehead knotting. Cerlina had a necklace full of animal teeth. It was actually rather disgusting if you thought about it, but also kind of impressive when you considered what you had to do to earn them.

"Alaway told me that she should have made master three years ago, she's been here since she was a very little girl and she's a lot older than she looks, some say she's actually past her mid-twenties although Dealie says she's younger than that, but she has a temper and she keeps getting reprimanded and despite the fact she's always been really, really talented, the masters keep making her wait or taking her tokens so she can't graduate."

"Yeah, I've seen her mean side…" Carri began, but stopped as another girl she didn't know came running up to them.

"Ona!" She called excitedly, "You have to come see this! One of the new girls is battling Cerlina!"

Carri didn't wait for any of the other girls to respond. She broke out in a full run past the incoming girl and didn't stop until she'd reached the clay arena.

* * *

"Rangers, the situation is deteriorating sooner than I anticipated." Zordon informed them as they gathered before his power tube in the main chamber. They watched him anxiously, their upturned faces grave and expecting the worst.

"We can't give up hope that we can get back the Falcon Zord and stop Master Vile from getting the Zeo crystal." Tommy reminded them urgently through his fatigue. They were all tired, all a little demoralized. Master Vile was much tougher to combat than Zedd and, for the first time, the Rangers were worried that they actually might fail to stop him.

"Unfortunately, we can no longer delay our offensive against Vile in hopes of regaining the lost Falcon Zord. We must now change tactics." Their mentor advised.

"We're with you Zordon." Tommy assured him, although his shoulders had slumped a little and it was obvious the loss of his zord was not something he was easily able to accept or put aside. "What do we need to do?"

"One of you must capture the Zeo crystal and destroy it." Zordon advised somberly. This was not what they wanted to hear, not what he wanted to do, but time was up and it was the only thing he could think of to prevent it falling into evil hands. The forces of evil were too close to securing it and the great Ninjor had been very little help at all. The ancient wizard was so senile, he'd actually accepted Zordon's quest to secure the lost elixir of Mulbane, even though it had been Ninjor himself who had told Zordon, more than seven thousand years before, that he had personally made up the legend in order to throw Vile off track. "Master Vile will relentlessly seek its Power while it is still intact." He rumbled, shifting his worried focus back to the teens in front of him. They were far too young for the task he was giving them, and he honestly regretted the loss of innocence the power inside the Zeo crystal would bring to the human who secured it, but there was no other way.

"Wait a minute." Billy interjected, a sick knot of fear twisting in his gut and a deep worried frown on his face. "You don't mean..."

"Yes Billy." The great sage interrupted, "One of you must journey to the Caves of Deception under Rita and Zedd's Palace. "

"We don't have a choice guys." Tommy said resolutely, trying to maintain the calm exterior of a strong leader even though he knew what Zordon's order meant and that knowledge scared him to his core. Failure was not an option and their vow to sacrifice their own lives to prevent evil from gaining the upper hand seemed like it might finally be tested. "I'll go." He decided solemnly, the others giving him silent looks of pained uncertainty, but not objecting.

"And so will I." Kat interjected, surprising them.

"No way…I can't let you do that Kat." He answered. She was too inexperienced, besides, he was a little afraid she'd only said it to prove to him she was committed to the Rangers and could fight just as well as any of them. Shuffling her off on Rocky hadn't worked as well as he thought it would. Despite his words to the contrary, she seemed to think she now had to show him she was a good Ranger. On the other hand, he really didn't want to go into the bowls of Rita's palace alone and, to be completely fair to her, if it had been Kim or any of the others who had volunteered , he probably would have accepted their help.

"Tommy," She argued softly, placing a gentle hand on his arm and raising clear, earnest eyes to his. "If you're going to get through the Caves of Deception, you're going to need someone to keep Rita and Zedd occupied. I can tell them I've changed my mind, pretend that I want to be evil again. That might buy enough time for you to slip past them and get to the crystal."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked solemnly, the concern evident in his voice. He reached out and placed a hand on her opposite arm in a gesture born more of thanks and appreciation that she was brave enough to step up to the challenge, but which raised more than one eyebrow from the others. Linked together, it almost looked like they were hugging each other.

"Well, like you said, we don't really have a choice." She answered, blushing shyly as she realized they were face to face and he was almost, but not quite, embracing her.

"Be warned Tommy, the metallic armor will not operate beyond the earth's atmosphere." Zordon advised, "You must not count on its protective powers on the moon."

"We'll try our best Zordon." Tommy answered, dropping his hand from Kat's arm and turning to face the great wizard. Taking a deep breath and steeling himself for what was to come, he shouted in a strong, clear voice, "It's morphin' time!"

* * *

The large red clay arena of the senior's enclave resounded with thwack after thwack as Cerlina and Kim went after one another with a speed and vengeance that stunned the onlookers surrounding them. Cerlina was slowly tiring, slowing down her attacks, but she was still the stronger opponent. Kim matched her, refusing to give in to the painful protests of her exhausted muscles and joints, but it was obvious that she wasn't at her peak ability. Sweat dripped from every inch of her skin, flattening her hair to her skull and causing the dust to stick and her scant clothing to pull.

The masters were keeping a close eye on them through the dust, watching carefully and ready to intervene if one suddenly overcame the other. They wouldn't allow another mishap like Cerlina's initial blow, but Kim didn't know that. Cerlina meant business and Kim, too tired to go on the offensive, merely focused on a defensive strategy and saved her energy for the more opportune moments when she could find holes in Cerlina's attacks and then jump on the rare opportunities to pay the other girl back for the sucker punches she'd endured.

Cerlina was a dirty fighter, but apparently that wasn't considered a bad thing. Fortunately, Kim had plenty of experience with both Goldar and Rito, who were the nastiest fighters she knew, so Cerlina, by comparison, wasn't all that hard to fight; she was just tired from the day's long, hard, exertions and had to force herself to stay upright and focused.

She wasn't much interested in taking the other girl down, she was a bully and hardly worth the effort, but she was beginning to realize that the masters weren't going to call an end to the fight until one or the other girl was the clear winner and she knew that if Cerlina beat her in their first encounter, she was likely to keep coming back, over and over again, the entire time she was there. As her strength waned into almost non-existence, she found herself wishing over and over again that she hadn't relinquished her Ninjetti coin. She could have really used it at that moment and, for the first time, realized what a life without powers would mean.

Almost exactly in that instant though, a very distant reminiscence of her own Zordon, from a world and a universe already half-forgotten, drifted back to the surface of her mind. He had confided in her that the Great Power, the source of the Rangers' incredible abilities, existed everywhere and was merely focused through the coins to allow them to morph. The Power itself existed in all things, large and small, good and evil, and it was no coincidence certain people were chosen over others to serve it. Those chosen to be Rangers naturally had the ability to channel the Power through them; already had an innate skill to feel it, use it, and understand it. The coins simply acted a kind of prism to focus and concentrate it in ways that the human mind couldn't fathom. Humans were a fairly fragile species. They weren't meant to harness the morphing power, but the coins allowed them to adapt to it.

Kim wasn't entirely human anymore. Kemora's cells had begun overtaking her body, slowly but surely transforming her. While she sharply refused any stray thought that she'd eventually be transformed into a full-fledged spawn of evil, she couldn't deny that she was changing. If Kemora, and even K, had managed to use those same cells to harness the Great Power for their own use, then why couldn't she? She was on Phaedos, could feel the powerful vibrations of the great Temple of Power surrounding her, then why couldn't she use the cells in her own body like her power coin and focus it where it was needed most?

Almost unconsciously, she reached out from the very depths of her soul, finding the currents of positive power that spilled through the Ninjetti Temple and out into the lush jungles; coursing through every animal, tree, leaf, and stone. It came to her gladly, as if relieved and thrilled to be united with her once again and, for the briefest of moments, a look of absolute peace and ecstasy crossed her moisture laden face. She paused ever so slightly as she felt the familiar electric crackle surge through her veins; it was like coming home and being embraced by everyone you'd ever loved.

Cerlina watched in wary confusion as Kimberly paused. The demon spawn had no place in their midst, had to be eradicated. It was up to her to show them how to deal with presumptuous scum like Kimberly. No one was a good as she was, no one had as much natural talent. From her earliest years, she had known she was the one who would succeed as Dulcea's apprentice and become a Master Warrior of Phaedos; a true guardian of the Great Power. Only one in every generation was chosen and only she had the gifts, the drive, the innate right to command that position. She had worked too long and too hard; the power was hers for the claiming and no one, especially an infected, corrupted piece of filth, would steal it from her. She knew how tired the other girl was, knew she had started off slow and was slowing further. The look of peaceful meditation when she paused confused her and, for the briefest of seconds, she paused as well, waiting for some trick that might be sprung, but nothing happened. Not wanting to lose her opening, she attacked with lightning speed, giving it everything she had left.

Kim saw things in exaggerated slow motion. She felt the surge of anger course through the other girl as she attempted her final strike. She saw the air currents flow around them like ripples in a still pond. She watched and easily predicted , then deflected, her movements. She heard the growl which emanated from the other girl, felt the cold, dark shadows of angry power lift from hidden crevasses around her to strike outward, and was suddenly aware of a knowledge denied the other masters; Cerlina had just as much a propensity for evil as Kim's own demon blood. She was not an evil being yet, but, with a shiver born of terrible foreboding, she could feel the power of the shadows exalt in her anger as she attacked. It was every bit as strong as the euphoria Kim had felt upon her own power's return. She knew then why Cerlina was so strong, why she was perpetually undefeated, why others were so impressed and drawn to her. Evil was every bit as seductive as good. The others, even the masters, were drawn to her power, but they didn't recognize it for what it was; she doubted Cerlina herself even knew what it was.

Kim wasn't afraid by what she saw. Her own power blanketed her in a familiar comfort. All things were possible through the Great Power; she had seen and experienced that for herself. Calmly and with the great grace born of her spirit crane totem, she side-stepped Cerlina's attack, allowing the power of the Ninjetti to guide her actions for her. She would not use the tricks of the Ninjetti here however, nor would she attempt a morph into Ninjetti robes; she didn't need to. She had, she realized with great joy and peaceful, quiet understanding, passed beyond the need for tricks and disguises. Her journey toward what she was destined to be, had finally begun.

In a few short moves, carried out with lightning speed, Kim disarmed her opponent and had her flat on her back in defeat. She heard the crowd roar, saw Cerlina's stunned look, understood she had proven her place to the masters, but it was the shadows that held her attention. Even as sharp awareness of the physical world encroached back upon her, she watched with opened eyes as they refused to retreat from the other girl; saw how they swirled and hardened into hatred in her eyes. The battle was not over.

* * *

"Zordon!" Tommy called frantically into his communicator. "Rita and Lord Zedd have captured Katherine. They've put her into some kind of machine to make her evil again!"

It was all his fault, he thought desperately. If he hadn't tried to push her away, she would never have tried to prove herself by volunteering to distract Rita and Zedd. He should have known it wouldn't work, that Rita and Zedd were too smart for that, but he hadn't wanted to go alone. His own fears of his own dark desires loomed threateningly in his subconscious. He'd never quite gotten over being Rita's evil green, had never quite stopped longing to feel again that surge of incredible dark power. He was terrified the Zeo crystal would see through him. That it would know, despite his desire to fight for what was right, the core of his soul just wasn't quite as good as it should be.

"Tommy, you must hurry." Zordon answered, just a touch of urgency in his voice. "You must leave Katherine behind and immediately go below to the Caves of Deception and secure the Zeo crystal. By delaying, you run the risk of capture and her sacrifice for you will have been made in vain. Fear not though, once in your possession, you can use the crystal to absorb any evil they might artificially place in her. Now go quickly."

"Got it Zordon." He answered, but he didn't like it; there was too great a chance that he'd fail. He glanced up one more time from his hiding spot to watch as the pink Ranger struggled with Zedd's evil machine, his soul sympathizing with her as she struggled against the seductive evil energies it shot through her, then forced himself to turn and carry out Zordon's instructions; leaving her alone to fend for herself.


	9. Chapter 9: The Flip Side of Trouble

Power Rangers: The Alternate: A Zeo Beginning

Chapter 9: The Flip Side of Trouble

* * *

Disclaimer: The Power Rangers belong to SABAN. Dulcea and Phaedos belong to Fox. All things Carri belong to KJ, with many thanks for the loan of such a fabulous character.

Notice: In my other series, The Coins, Andre's daughter Gigi is six years younger than Kim, however, in this dimension, just to spice things up, she is only about six months younger. Sophia is one year younger than they are and Angelique is about eleven.

Oh yes, and, as usual, I've thrown PR cannon out the window again .

* * *

"Oh my god..." Carri moaned as she slid gingerly back into the lower bunk of their dorm room in France. "Everything hurts…I mean everything."

They had spent two incredibly intense weeks of physical conditioning, in preparation for the real curriculum to come, then turned an about-face and shuttled back to their own world via the portal. The ride back hadn't been nearly as awful as the ride over, but it had still been bumpy and stomach churning; kind of like being flushed feet first down a toilet bowl.

"My mind is still back on Phaedos and going ninety miles an hour. I keep going over the ballad of Durok and wondering if my translation is right and, even though the bruises are gone, I can still feel the cane marks where Cerlina caught me on the training field. It's two in the morning here, how the hell am I gonna wind down long enough to rest before classes start…do you even remember if we completed our homework? Oh my god, I hope we don't have a test. Do we have a test?"

Kim spared her friend a morbid look before kicking off her slippers and climbing up to the top bunk. The portal had returned them to the girl's shower room exactly as they had been dressed before they left, less than two minutes after they left, which had astounded Carri, but Kim simply chalked it up to Dulcea's magic and manipulation of the timeline and made a mental note to ask how it was done when they returned.

"Tomorrow's Sunday. Don't sweat it."

"Oh thank god…oh thank god…" Carri moaned, covering her eyes with her palms and then running her fingers through her hair roughly, as if to shake out the last of her panic. "I can sleep…Dulcea's brilliant, remind me to tell her that."

"Still…" Kim replied, the word sounding more like a grunt as she hauled her tired body up and over the top of the old wooden bunk, then flopped hard on the mattress, "I think it would be a good idea to leave ourselves a note or something next time. I can't even begin to remember what chapter of French I'm on, let alone remember whether or not I finished my math homework."

"Do you think…" Carri began, but suddenly the door burst open and Madame Boielle pushed her way into the center of the room, followed closely by a girl about their age. Kim and Carri, after two full weeks of arms training, jumped instantly at the interruption and had to catch themselves before they jumped off their beds entirely.

"Madame…" Kim exclaimed, remembering a little too late that she had to duck when she sat up in bed or she'd bump her head on the low plaster ceiling. Her forehead smacked loudly and she recoiled back to a reclining position, one hand gently reaching up to assure herself she wasn't bleeding.

"Moira tells me you were out of bed again!" Madame Boielle fussed angrily in her heavy French accent. "That a strange light exploded out of the shower room and the two of you ran away from it, as if you were both up to something. I demand to know what clandestine activities you are involved in at this hour of the morning. "

"I had to go to the bathroom…I mean the toilet." Kim offered lamely, correcting herself so that the other girl wouldn't laugh at her phraseology again. In America, she'd been taught that referring to the toilet directly wasn't exactly considered polite, so it was always called the bathroom or the ladies room, but at this school, the bath and shower room was an entirely separate area. You had to be specific on which room you were going to relieve yourself in or they laughed and accused you of trying to pee in the bathtub like a barbarian.

"In the showers?" Moira sneered, her eyes narrowing and nostrils flaring with frosty disbelief.

"I was half asleep and went the wrong way." Kim responded blandly, suddenly thinking how much she hated being back on her own planet; which was kind of a weird thought if you honestly stopped to think about it.

"My guess is that you had your stupid computer set up in there or maybe even a television. Televisions aren't allowed upstairs you know." The other girl sniggered, almost gleeful that she thought she'd caught the two doing something forbidden.

"Well what was it?" Madame Boielle demanded. "Have you an electronic device of some kind that you were using in the showers?"

"You're welcome to search my room Madame." Carri replied in a soft, perfectly accented French, that managed to sound so cold in tone that it sent shivers down Kim's spine. I think you will find I have nothing in this room that I have not already obtained permission to have. And as for the computer," She added, pausing to give Moira her deadliest, retribution- is- coming, look. "Do you know how hard it is to disconnect and then reconnect all those wires? No, of course you don't, because you've never had one, have you? Besides, why on earth would I take it or any other electronic device into the showers? There aren't any electrical outlets in there and besides, the water would fry the circuits."

"What was the source of the blue light then and why were you both out of bed?" Moira snapped back. "Since when does it take the two of you to go to the toilet in the middle of the night?"

"Why were you out of bed?" Kim volleyed, suddenly wondering what Moira herself had been up to. "You're still dressed in your weekend clothes." She observed, and the girl blanched and looked a little uneasy. "Don't tell me you're just now sneaking back into the dorm from somewhere?"

"Of course not!" Moira snapped indignantly. "I simply chose not to wear a nightgown this evening and was sleeping in my clothes. I …I was going to the toilet as well and noticed the two of you setting something off in the showers. It was obvious you were up to no good, so I ran and woke Madame up."

"Popular night for peeing." Carri drolled, but the house mother and Moira didn't seem to find any humor in it.

"I warn the both of you." Madame Boielle huffed, obviously miffed that she was unable to uncover enough proof of the incident to punish the two girls, as she'd hoped she'd be able to. Both girls were in their room, in bed, with the lights out. There was nothing to suggest that they'd gone anywhere except where they were allowed. "I'm watching you." She advised sternly. "Yes, I have both of my eyes on you." She warned, then turned and stormed purposefully back toward her rooms.

"Get out of my room Moira." Carri snarled heatedly, "Before I get out of bed and physically throw you out."

"You two are up to something." The other girl replied nastily, unphased by Carri's temper. "And I'm going to find out what." With that, she turned and exited the small dorm room, slamming the door behind her as if it was two in the afternoon instead of two in the morning.

"You know, I kinda hope she does." Carri replied, flopping back down on the bed and pulling the covers up. When Kim responded by hanging her head upside-down over the bedframe and giving her an are-you-serious look, she added, "Who would believe her? Her dad already has her seeing a shrink once a week because she's supposedly so messed up from just being part of her whacked out family. Seriously, if she ever really found out? Hardly anyone over here believes in the whole Power Rangers thing. They think it's all an attempt by the Americans to try to scare the rest of the world into believing in something as stupid as aliens, so other countries will look to them for protection. One good look at Goldar or Zedd or hell, even Rito and they'd have to institutionalize her …and then she'd be out of our hair for good."

* * *

"You gonna stare at that computer all night or are you gonna actually write an email?" Ernie asked glibly and Tommy visibly jumped in his seat, snapping into a defensive position so quickly that it was actually kind of scary to watch. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya." He added apologetically, and watched with a little frown as the boy's shoulders and posture relaxed visibly. The poor kid looked far too old sometimes to be only a teenager. He looked like he'd been off fighting on the frontlines of a war for one too many tours of duty.

"No…it's fine…I'm sorry." Tommy muttered in apology. He was so on edge by everything that had happened with Master Vile, and Ninjor, and Kat, and the Zeo crystal. He wanted desperately to talk to Kim, but once again the time zone difference hindered them. It was two in the morning where she was and he was sure she was sound asleep. He'd thought maybe he could email her a letter, but then decided against it. Billy wasn't happy with the security level of the Internet. There was hardly anyone poking around on it, but the Ranger's resident genius had serious concerns about the potential of what he was terming cyber-crime. The popularity of emailing and instant messaging was quickly gaining momentum and Billy had some very real concerns with how easy it was to tap into and copy that information for illicit purposes.

"Rough day?" Ernie asked, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to the boy.

"I just miss Kim." Tommy muttered morbidly. "She's got a way of helping me piece through things. You know, putting it all together so I can see the big picture or letting me know if I'm making the right choices and things…you know."

They had gotten the Zeo crystal away from Vile and he had broken it into pieces with his sword. They had also successfully completed their next mission and sent the broken shards back in time and hidden them where Vile could never find them and potentially reassemble the pieces. It had been a positive mission in the end, yet he was still uneasy and couldn't find a way to let go of the pent up stress. There was an odd desperateness to Vile's desire for the power of the crystal that just didn't seem to be entirely born of a basic evildoer's need to be the biggest and the baddest on the block. A few of Ninjor's odd comments had also gotten him thinking that maybe Vile was almost afraid of something, or someone, and needed the power of the crystal for his own protection. The question was though, if Vile was scared of something, what was it? What could possibly be out there that was worse than Zedd and Vile? Ivan had been pretty tough, but not actually any worse than any other bad guy.

It had all been too close of a call, maybe that was it. They had lost too much, fought too hard to simply regain the status quo. It wasn't something he was used to and it wasn't that Kat was new and inexperienced; it wouldn't be fair to lay the difference on her. It didn't just feel like they had won, only that Vile had retreated for the moment and it was simply the calm before the storm.

Something about sending the pieces of the Zeo crystal back in time also didn't sit right with him; it made him tense and apprehensive. He trusted Zordon's guidance and judgment, but something deep within his gut told him that it was the wrong move. It almost felt like the crystal had revealed itself after all this time so that they could use it; so that he could use it.

What scared him, what he could never admit to, was that he wasn't exactly sure it wasn't his own latent evil residues, from being Rita's evil green, that made him anxious an on edge about it and to have such a strong and powerful desire to go back and gather all the pieces and put it back together again. Zordon had completely and thoroughly shut him down on the idea, had told him is wasn't possible and that he should dismiss any further notion of it…but he couldn't. He realized it was a silly desire, when he really analyzed it, and he had no idea why he should feel so strongly about it, except that maybe Vile wanted its power, so maybe the latent evil side of his own personality was simply craving it too. Besides, he had no idea where the others had taken their fragments, yet it still niggled at the back of his mind that he was wrong to have left his section of it back in the time vortex. He felt like he needed to keep it, to bond to it, to use it.

He almost wanted to say that it was as if the Great Power itself was telling him Zordon was wrong, that he should have kept the crystal to fight off the next wave of potential unseen evil that was coming their way. The problem was though, he was only sixteen and the idea that Zordon could be wrong and him right was preposterous. It had to be that darker side of him, the one that he always suppressed, that was simply tempting him to disobey Zordon's command never to think of using the crystal. It had to be some failing of his own that made him want to re-seek the Zeo power. He wished he could talk it over with Kim. She understood that part of him, made it seem not quite so grim, even an asset sometimes. She always had a way to smooth out the guilt and insecurities, so that he felt better about himself and his ideas. Being separated from her when he was feeling so vulnerable and insecure, almost physically hurt.

""She'll be back before ya know it." Ernie advised sagely, but Tommy only nodded silently, looking depressed and far from reassured. "You know, the best way to sort through your problems is to talk about them. Kimberly might not be here, but my guess is that you have some other good friends that might be able to listen."

Tommy considered for a moment seeking out the confidence of one of the other Rangers, but dismissed the idea just as quickly. If Jason were there, he might have been able to confide in the former red, but he and Rocky, the current red, although good friends, just weren't that close. Billy might be able to help him take a good logical look at his emotional turmoil, but the emotions he was wrestling with weren't exactly logical. Adam was an excellent listener, but he wasn't sure he would know what to say any more than Tommy himself did. Aisha would very practically tell him to go talk to Zordon, which, in this instance, wasn't going to happen, and Kat…Kat would understand the influences and struggles of having been under Rita's evil spell. Of all the Rangers, Kat would probably sympathize and help him work through his unease. Kat, however, was the one person he couldn't go to for emotional support right now. He was finally ready to admit that Rocky was right and that Kat was unquestionably flirting with him. It might send her the wrong signals if he tried to confide in her and, at the very least, it would send the other Rangers the wrong signals and they might tell Kim.

"Life sucks." He muttered, eyes glued to the relatively blank computer screen and missing Ernie's raised eyebrows and quizzical look.

"Well," Ernie sighed, rising and figuring the boy simply needed some space. "You have a little over two hours to meditate on that computer screen until I start closing up shop. If you're here after that, I'm gonna put a mop in your hands and you can help me clean up." He had meant it as a joke, but as he looked up, he spied a man much older than the normal age for a patron of his establishment. The man was hauntingly familiar and, as he studied him, his confusion grew and the last part of the sentence came off rather strained. "That's not your dad is it." He murmured cautiously. He knew Tommy was adopted and, even though his adopted father hadn't ever been to the Youth Center, he was pretty sure the man walking purposely toward them wasn't him; although he could honestly have been a much older carbon copy. Whatever the connection, it was very plain that the older man was a relative.

Tommy looked up and froze, unsure of how to respond. Walking directly towards him was his older alternate. He was pretty sure it was the same one who'd visited earlier, but who really knew with alternates?

"Uhm, no…I mean …" Tommy stammered. "Uhm…"

"You haven't told your mom you've been looking for your biological parents, have you." Ernie guessed, and Tommy didn't deny it. He had, in fact been looking for his biological parents without his mother's knowledge, but the appearance of his alternate was a different development entirely.

"I won't say anything Tommy." Ernie replied, standing up and greeting the stranger, who seemed pleasant enough; if rather stern. He already knew Tommy was looking for ways to search out his biological family. He couldn't blame the kid for not wanting to tell his mom, it was a tough situation to be in for anyone. He also realized though, that the strange man was something that he could easily imagine Tommy growing into. Perhaps that was why the boy seemed so confused an even a little depressed. Life was full of hard choices and problems for teens. "I'm Ernie." He said to the man in a friendly tone. "The Youth Center is my place. And you are?"

The alternate paused, obviously uncomfortable and cautious about his answer. "Tom…Thomas." He corrected. "Thomas….ah…Trueheart."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Trueheart." Ernie replied congenially. "You a relative of Tommy's?"

The older Tommy paused, not sure what to say. This had been his wife's mission, but it had seemed an easy one to take over for her and he'd pressured her into letting him do it so she could grab a few hours of much needed rest. His wife didn't like the look of the timeline in their dimension now that the Zeo crystal had been separated. He was supposed to ask Zordon to return the alternate Kimberly to California, which he had, and then he was supposed to deliver a warning to the young Tommy to keep a close and protective watch on her. It was a simple enough mission, except the boy was in the Youth Center and Ernie was asking questions that weren't easily answered. He obviously couldn't be Tommy Oliver when a younger, resident Tommy Oliver was sitting in front of him giving him a panicked look. If he had to guess, this was about the period of time his twin brother had emerged, so Trueheart was as good a last name as any and should be innocuous.

"Uhm, Ernie, I'm sorry, would you mind…" Tommy stuttered. Trueheart? Was that really his alternate's name? He didn't think so, although, during his brief stint in the other man's dimension, he didn't think he'd been referred to as anything except Tommy, so it could have been. He wondered then if the last name of Trueheart was connected in some way, maybe even a biological name. If that was the case, maybe it might return more results if he plugged it into the Zordon's computers when he searched his birth mother.

"No, no, not at all. Can I get you something Mr. Trueheart?" He asked good-naturedly and, when the other man shook his head, he headed back toward his counter.

* * *

"Well at least that's over with." Rita sighed in exasperation as she entered Zedd's throne room. "I haven't seen daddy that upset in centuries. Didn't say one word as he boarded his shuttle back home; just glared at Rito like it was all his fault. He's so vexed I doubt he'll speak to either of us for a millennia."

"Then something positive has transpired out of this fiasco after all." Zedd growled back absently, metal clad fingers gently stroking his armored chin as he pondered the European continent of the planet below them. "Vile's prolonged silent treatment will be well worth the irascibility I've endured these past few days. And perhaps, if he is also finally able to admit to himself that this is no ordinary group of Rangers Zordon that has conjured up, then perchance he'll leave me in peace for a change."

Rita humped rudely, but didn't bother to respond. It hadn't been so very long ago that it was Zedd tromping in on her toes and demanding to know if she'd lost her touch. She was, after all, one of the very few evil doers who had managed to kill one of Zordon's Rangers and steal a real power coin. It was also she, and only she, who was responsible for successfully and permanently trapping Zordon in his timewarp. If she hadn't been able to get past Zordon's newest team of power brats, she wasn't sure why all the macho males around her thought they could. But those thoughts she kept to herself. Truth be told, she actually kind of liked her husband, not that she was ready to officially admit it to herself. He wasn't easy to live with, let alone manipulate, but she was getting better and better at it and that, in itself, gave her an immense sense of accomplishment. The fact he made her toes curl under the sheets didn't hurt either.

"Why the back-side view of the planet?" She screeched irritably, placing her hands behind her back and stretching it in a wide arch that made her vertebrae pop repulsively even as her skirts swished forward and gave a vulgar show of her pantaloons; one that Zedd found himself eyeing enjoyably. Stretch complete, she yawned loudly and cracked her neck from side to side. The Rangers would be going to bed soon and, now that her father had gone home, she was more than ready for a good day or two of quiet hibernating herself.

"It appears Zordon has left his former pink relatively unprotected." Zedd murmured, eyes leaving his wife and returning to the view of the earth below. "I find it an interesting move on his part. He took several precautionary measures early on, which suggested he was concerned for her safety, but now has pulled them back."

"You still thinking about taking her hostage?" She asked brightly, a new sense of excitement overriding her fatigue. Now that was a plan she could sink her teeth into. There was no honor, good or evil, in taking retribution against an enemy who was now defenseless, but, she had to confess, the idea of tossing the pretty former pink into an evil subdimension to fend for herself while little Tommykins went hysterical with worry and heartbreak, was incredibly seductive.

"What has tweaked my curiosity," Zedd continued in a low, reflective tone, "Is why Zordon felt he needed to implement protective measures over her at all. He certainly didn't extend such consideration to the other three."

"She's his all-time favorite." Rita spat, her own angst at being a lessor favored child spicing her words. "Even I know that."

"There is no honor, even among the forces of evil, in going after a powerless former enemy." He murmured, parroting her earlier thoughts. "Why would Zordon feel I would have any interest in her now that she's as weak as any other human?"

"Maybe he knows you're still watching her." Rita offered before she could think better of it, then added, "Or maybe he's concerned she was on your side for a while and is nervous you'll act on your rights to see she's punished for defecting?" It was a weak argument, and she knew it, but she hadn't forgotten that her husband was smitten with the former pink when she'd walked her little stint on the evil side and she hadn't forgotten how vexed Zedd had been when the brat had defeated her evil alter ego and morphed into goody-goody again.

"Perhaps." Zedd admitted, though he honestly didn't think that was the case. A soldier for good, turned evil by chance, will almost inevitably turn good again if given the chance. His argument for restitution against a defector was limited and he and Zordon both knew it.

"Well now he's not protecting her, right?" Rita pressed, hoping to prod him into announcing his new plan.

"It appears not." Zedd returned, his gaze still focused intently on the planet below. "I've detected the shielding measures were withdrawn the minute your father left or, if one were to think of it another way, once the Zeo crystal was broken by the white Ranger's sword and tossed into the time vortex. I would very much like to know if there is a connection."

"Then let's grab her!" Rita cackled delightedly. "It won't be hard. I'll stick her in an evil subdimension and let Goldar play with her until your brilliant mind figures it out."

"Yes." Zedd growled, Rita's enthusiasm enhancing his own. "Let's."

* * *

"Mom!" Kim exclaimed, and picked up her pace down the pretty brick path of the school's garden. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you might enjoy a Sunday in the city." He mother replied, tight smile and tired eyes belying the perkiness of her tone.

"Sure, can Carri come too?" She asked, thinking of her friend, who was still asleep in her bunk even though breakfast was already over and the cafeteria locked until noon. Carri had shooed her away and begged to be left alone, so Kim had braved the horde of girls by herself, all the while thinking she'd rather fight Cerlina in the dusty clay arena, rather than have to deal with the teenage residents of her school. It wasn't really as bad as she'd anticipated, she had managed to make quite a few friends and was happy to quietly tuck herself into a small pack, but she was tired and cranky and honestly not in the mood to be overly social.

"No." Her mother replied coolly. Too coolly. That meant something was up. "No, today I think it will be just you and me and we'll have a nice quiet time to chat about things."

"Uh-oh." Kim uttered softly before she could stop herself. "What's going on?" She asked hesitantly.

"Nothing terrible sweetie, but Andre had a telephone call from your step sisters this morning which concerned us and..." Her mother answered.

"Whatever they said." Kim returned with more heat than she actually should have, "You have to take it with a grain of salt, they hate me."

"They don't hate you." Her mother replied. "Andre has spoken to them at length and they consistently say they'd dearly love to include you, but you simply won't give them a chance. I've also just spoken to the head mistress and it seems there's quite a bit of friction in the upper school dorms between you and Carri and all the other girls, so it's not just Gigi and Sophie. I wanted to have a chance to sit down with you and see what's going on."

"Not all of them." Kim answered petulantly, throwing her shoulders back and ready to stand her ground. "Just between the friends of Andre's lying, spoiled, snotty little trouble makers and the other half of the dorm, who are friends with Carri and me. So now instead of causing trouble for us with Boil and the Headmistress, they're calling Andre and you direct? Gigi's a lying witch mom, she's always trying to get me into trouble."

"Kimberly…" Her mother replied in a parental tone that managed to convey just the right mix of fatigue, disappointment, and frustration.

"No." Kim cut her off, stomping her foot for emphasis. "You don't know what it's like here. I don't fit in. Half the girls don't like English speaking girls period and of the half that does like English speaking girls, half of them don't like Americans…and I hate Gigi and her goons, they're constantly making life miserable for Carri and me. I want to go home. I want my own friends."

"Kimberly, this is our home now, our new life. You have to be open to new experiences honey, to a new culture, and new friends…"

"I can't believe you'd take their side." Kim huffed. "One phone call and you speed right over to yell at me."

"I'm not yelling." Molly answered in an even tone. "I'm here to try to smooth things out between you and your step sisters. Honey, I realize it's probably not all you and Carri. Both Andre and I, and even the head mistress, are all well aware that Gigi and Sophie have been acting out a little in the past year or two since their parent's divorce. But sweetie you, of all people, should understand what those girls have been through. Their parents are still at war with one another, now Andre's having another child with me, you remember what that was like."

"No mom, I don't." Kim replied with all the teenage angst and asperity that was itching to be released. She was so over the petty teenage power plays of high school. Comparatively, life on Phaedos was so much easier, even with Cerlina gunning for her. At least there, they were all united in a singular desire to serve as warriors of the Great Power. All the girls in France worried about was who was more popular, what boys they'd see over the weekend, what was on television, who said what about a girl in another pack; it was ridiculous. Anger bubbled up in her at the perceived injustice of being forced to deal with a situation she didn't want to and, even though she understood that she should take a deep breath and control it, to not allow it to affect her temper, she simply couldn't hold back anymore. "In fact, I don't remember much at all past a year ago. All I know is that I'm thousands of miles away from my friends and having to start all over again in a place that barely speaks English, with snobby people who actually try to correct me on MY English, and where I'm forced to live in a dorm full of petty, stupid, condescending little girls who can't think past their next shopping trip into the city to get another manicure. I hate it here!"

"Kimberly…" Her mother replied in the same tone as before, "We all knew that there would be a little adjustment period. I had hoped that having Carri here would make it easier for you, but now the Head Mistress is asking to separate the two of you because you're constantly getting into trouble. She feels you would assimilate better without her."

"Carri's the only reason I don't go ask the court to let me go back and live with dad." Kim spat ungratefully. It was an empty threat. She honestly didn't want to live with her dad, but she did want to go back to California and she was, she admitted silently to herself, trying to punish her mom for forcing her to move to France. It worked, her mom blanched and reeled back as if she'd been physically struck, which made Kim feel incredibly guilty.

"That was a really low blow." The spectral image of herself murmured quietly, its shimmering image drifting into view and giving their mother a sad look. "That really hurt her you know. She's as homesick as you are and Michael's giving her a worse time than you are. In fact, you're the angel child compared to him."

"I'm sorry." Kim muttered, when her mom stayed silent. "I don't want to go live with dad, it's just so hard…"

She didn't get a chance to say more. The bushes rustled once, catching her attention, then Goldar emerged with half a dozen Tengas. He growled his laughter as her mom screamed, then the world evaporated into a flash of harsh white light.


End file.
